February 21, 2020
The Ministry of Health and Sports convened a meeting with officials from US CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the surveillance and containment of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) yesterday.
Permanent Secretary Dr Thar Tun Kyaw and MoHS officials met with the US CDC Program Director for its Thailand office Dr Joshua Mott (Asia Regional Influenza Program) and Country Director Dr Mitesh Desai from its Myanmar office and their teams.
During the meeting, the Permanent Secretary said they have been carrying out surveillance for COVID-19 since 5 January and formed committees from the national to regional/state levels for monitoring and containment. He said they have been constantly monitoring international airports, border checkpoints and the general public. He said they successfully evacuated 59 Myanmar students from Wuhan.
Next, officials from the US CDC missions explained preparations for testing for COVID-19 at MoHS’ National Health Laboratory and shared their observations of disease surveillance processes at Myanmar’s international airports. They praised the efforts of the ministry and gave suggestions on areas for improvement.—MNA (Translated by Zaw Htet Oo)
