March 30, 2020
After the contact-tracing to find those people who had close contact with eight confirmed Coronavirus infected patients, over 470 people have been confined to facilities and home quarantined to prevent the possible spread of the infectious virus.
At the same time, thousands of migrant workers returned from Thailand and were advised to stay home or in designated locations for 14 days, and local authorities are enforcing the rules, in cooperation with the local people.
Physicians and all medical professionals are taking an enormous personal risk, for themselves and their families, in caring for the sick and enforcing the 14-day quarantine among those who returned from foreign countries.
In this time of crisis, local health authorities and administrative authorities are working on the frontline without days off, and all people are requested to understand that they are performing their duty under great pressure.
The regulations to prevent the possible spread of Coronavirus are already in place, and the returnees are obliged to abide by these necessary 14-day stay at home or facility orders to serve public health.
Violating the stay-at-home order could even result in being arrested.
The health workers tasked with surveillance and enforcing 14-day quarantine regulations have been ordered to report their daily situation to officials. At the same time, the authorities have also increased the number of health workers in Kayin State, Mon State and Yangon Region, where the number of returnees from foreign countries are high.
When misunderstanding and disagreements occur between health workers, administrative authorities and the people, everyone should solve their problems through negotiation, as we all are working together for the same goal of overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
As many countries across the world have imposed lockdowns, asking residents to stay home and self-isolate, in an attempt to break the chain of transmission of the Coronavirus, our healthcare workers remain at the frontlines of battling the pandemic.
So, be patient with them. Be nice to them. And remember, they’re under stress, too.
We’re all in this together. And we will get through this together — with the help of our healthcare workers, who are very special and very essential people.
