March 25, 2020
With the announcement that two Coronavirus infection cases were diagnosed yesterday, the COVID-19 global pandemic has entered Myanmar.
Once the two cases were confirmed by the health authorities around midnight on 23 March, some people rushed to 24-hour shopping malls and began panic buying, though the authorities had previously insisted that there are no prospects for shortages of food in our country.
Members of the public can possibly become infected with the COVID-19 virus if they throng in crowds to buy merchandise. People are advised to remain calm in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, as the infection is preventable and curable, according to the World Health Organization. Myanmar’s people are the key to tackle the challenges brought on by the crisis.
The Union Government pledged that it has no plan to close public services, markets and trading centres. However, the people are advised to avoid hoarding and to send only one family member to the market to purchase goods.
We already anticipated that rumours related to the Coronavirus infection would emerge with the news of the nation’s first infections.
Rumours that factories would close and towns would be locked down are spreading throughout the country. Due to these rumours, people are requested not to panic, but to remain calm and follow the advice from the health authorities about COVID-19.
To overcome this crisis, people are also requested to avoid harmful actions, such as panic buying, spreading rumours and neglecting the advice of the authorities.
Meanwhile, the regional administrative authorities and health authorities are enforcing home or facility quarantines for Myanmar migrant workers, especially those returning in crowds and passing through border gates from Thailand.
Those migrant workers who returned home are specially advised not to panic and to cooperate with the authorities in accepting the 14-day quarantine, remembering that their cooperation can ensure preventing the spread of the infection.
All in all, our country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is in the hands of duty-conscious people and the authorities.
People are the key in preventing and delaying the spread of the virus, so that large numbers of the population are not sick at the same time.
So let’s face the crisis together by following the sincere advice of the authorities and demonstrating our centuries-old concern for each member of society.
