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Digest of local Covid-19 community responses inMyanmar
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nils carstensen
Digest of local Covid-19 responses from Myanmar media Yangon, June 9, 2020, by Kyaw Lin Htoon 1. Volunteering in Myanmar’s quarantine centres During COVID-19 period, Myanmar rely heavily on the help of volunteers
throughout the country. On June
3, the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency (MPA) covered the work of some of these
volunteers. On that day, a group of Myanmar nationals returned from overseas and
were taken to a quarantine centre in Hlaing Township in Yangon where they were
placed in semi-lockdown. The
centre is run with the help of 20 volunteers - ordinary people and from
different parts of Yangon and many of them have been volunteering since the
beginning of Covid-19 in Myanmar. The volunteers call themselves a Medical
Social Support Team and among other clean the rooms where the overseas
returnees have to live for weeks. The teams wear PPEs and for instance sprayed
disinfectants into a room where a suspected COVID-19 patient had just stayed. They
then locked the room to avoid anybody else entering that room. This photo essay on FB
illustrates how hard it is to wear PPEs and Level-2 protective dresses for a
long time as it is hot inside the rooms. After spraying
the whole seven-storey building, the team went on to wash bedsheets. They
washed them in a pond where the water was mixed with smelly chlorine and
washing powder. By the time they were done with washing, evening had come along
with heavy rains, so they finished their work and prepared to have an evening
meal. Apart
from cleaning rooms and other facilities at the centre, washing clothes and
bedlinen, the volunteers play other important roles. They accompany some of the
guarantees when they are transferred for instance via the airport or highway
stations to their areas of origin. Besides, they are involved in the activities
of distributing things donated by the people, and organizations, to reach the
right destinations – as well as in the handing over suspected COVID-19 patients
to Wabargi and other hospitals. Some of
the volunteers have worked at the quarantine centre in Yangon for over two
months. Because they do this work, they have not been able to go back to home
in all this time. Prior to volunteering they attended COVID-19 related training. The
importance of the volunteers during this COVID-19 is widely recognized by all
different layers of the society in Myanmar. The government has recognized the volunteers
and praise them occasionally. On Jun 5, the State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi mentioned that the state has to rely on the strength of the
volunteers. “We appreciate the strength of the volunteers, and we to rely
on those volunteers as well. None of the measures that we did to control the
virus could have succeeded, if we did not have their efforts,” Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, said during an online meeting with the Union of Ministers on June 5. Up to
the morning of June 9, Myanmar had a total of 246 confirmed cases according to
the Ministry of Health and Sports. Myanmar’s first case was officially
announced on 23 March. Currently, Myanmar has over 10,000 of quarantine centres
and camps throughout the country. These places are reported to host more than 46,000 quarantined
people. The total number of the volunteers who have helped in the quarantine
centres over the last months is reported to be around 45,000. 2. Citizen support to vulnerable families in Paletwa Paletwa
is a township in Southern part of Chin State which suffer from a conflict
between Tatmadaw (government army) and the Arakan Army (AA). The conflict has
evolved over a couple of years, but the situation has become more bitter as
COVID-19 emerged. As a
result of the suffering brought on by this conflict, people from including Chin
and other States and Region have donated rice and other basic needs of food to
Paletwa township. Much of this support comes from Chin people around Myanmar
and overseas. However,
as the monsoon is moving across the country, the needs of internally displaced
persons affected by the conflict and the impact of COVID-19 is growing. As a
result, Chin people from other places have started thinking, how they can help. On June
6, the “7
Day News” reported that there are
over 15,000 IDPs in Paletwa Township and another 60,000 people stuck in their
own places because of the double threat posed by the ongoing conflict and the
factors associated with COVID-19. In the same news report, Mai Nan Wai, a
Chin woman working and living in Yangon explained: “Before the heavier rains
come, we need to send them more rice to make sure for their food security”. Mai
Nan Wai is among those trying to involve more people in an attempt to help
their fellow Chin people in Paletwa. Ref: 6 Jun 2020 – 7 Day Daily newspaper
3. Counselling the vulnerable people The Assistance
Association for Polical Prisoners (AAPP) is a local NGO in Myanmar, which usually
works to support political prisoners and their families But, during COVID-19
crisis, they have come up with a different idea. In a
statement issued on June 4, the AAPP announced that they also will offer
counselling to people who are addicted to drugs, sex-workers, HIV-patients and
also to members of the LGBT communities. “During this COVID-19 period, many
people are suffering from additional stress and other mental pains. Therefore,
we will attempt to reach out to some of those most in need of counselling. Many
in these groups are overly stressed and need extra counselling, motivation and
other kinds of humanitarian support.” According
to AAPP, during COVID-19, the risks of suicide attempts and violence has
increased. In this situation, AAPP has stated a phone-in hotline for
counselling. Ref: 6 Jun 2020 – 7 Day Daily newspaper |
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