Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, people take to the streets in Yangon to urge the military to restore democracy, February 15, 2021. Photo: ©Ta Mwe

Photo Essay Top News

Who Cares? COVID-19 Divides in Southeast Asia (Myanmar)

By Prof. Dr. Rosalia Sciortino / November 12, 2023
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Myanmar weathered the early storms of the COVID-19 pandemic with prompt introduction of containment measures in spite of its scarce resources. Prevention measures were applied also during the holding of General Elections on  January 18, 2021, in which a large majority of the population voted for Ang Sang Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy (NLD) party

However, the military coup on February 1, detaining Myanmar’s elected leaders and placing the entire country under a ‘State of Emergency’, lead to the devastation of all sectors, with healthcare one of the worst affected.

With Myanmar facing the third wave of the pandemic triggered by the Delta variant, large numbers of patients were forced to go through the illness in their own homes due to a severe lack of medical services depending on the help of volunteers and striking Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) health personnel.

During the height of the surge, Yangon’s crematoriums worked around the clock to burn the dead.

Yangon´s empty streets during the Myanmar New Year Thingyan Festival Stay-at-Home order, mid-April 2020.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
People in Yangon stay inside as the COVID outbreak worsens, April 18, 2020.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
A discarded surgical mask hangs on the fence of a residential building in Yangon soon after the Stay-at-Home and Mask-Wearing orders were issued following the discovery of the first case of COVID-19 on April 12, 2020.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
A volunteer measures voters´ body temperature at a ballot station during the General Election, November 8, 2020.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
A charter plane delivers international aid including PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) and other supplies at the Yangon International Airport to assist resource-poor Myanmar in its emergency response, August 24, 2020.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
Supporters of the National League of Democracy (NLD) party celebrate their landslide victory in the General Election at NLD headquarters in Yangon wearing masks with political themes, November 9, 2020.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
People line up to refill cylinders with oxygen provided by volunteers at the Nwe Aye mosque, July 12, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
Volunteers carry a body of a woman who died from COVID-19 at a factory’s dormitory on the outskirts of Yangon, July 22, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
A family member of a man who died from COVID-19 carries a pot with a flower and coconut as a traditional ritual mourning in Kyisu cemetery, July 23, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
Family members of a man who died from COVID-19 look onwards as a free funeral service team arrives to pick up the body, July 7, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
Dozens of ambulances line up to drop off the deceased at Kyisu cemetery during the third wave of COVID-19, July 23, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
Exhausted volunteer funeral service workers rest at the crematorium in Yayway cemetery during the third wave of COVID-19 in Yangon, July 22, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe
COVID-19 volunteer health workers, who are taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), protest against the military coup in downtown Yangon, February 8, 2021.
Photo: ©Ta Mwe

This photo essay is part of the photo exhibition “Who Cares? COVID-19 Divides in Southeast Asia”, organized by SEA-Junction and the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) of Mahidol University, in partnership with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), Silkworm, Khon Thai 4.0 and Bangkok Tribune. (The exhibition is on display from 17 October to 12 November 2023 | Curved Wall, 3rd Floor, BACC). For more details, check out at http://seajunction.org/event/photo-exhibition-who-cares-covid-19-divides-in-southeast-asia and https://bkktribune.com/photo-exhibition-who-cares-covid-19-divides-in-southeast-asia/

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