Myanmar Mix

Myanmar has stepped up its battle against Covid-19 across the country—and from the skies, as senior Buddhist monks recited chants of protection in a specially charted plane.

The verses, known as parrittas, “extended loving-kindness on the flight around the country to prevent and stop outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic,” according to an article in state-run newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar.

Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein and other officials made donations to the monks at Yangon airport yesterday morning before they boarded a Myanmar National Airlines plane.

While the monks chanted, the aircraft followed the course of the Ayeyarwady River and touched down at Mandalay, Myitkyina and Nyaung-U airport—near the sacred temples of Bagan—before returning to Yangon in the afternoon.

Government officials donated alms to the monks at each landing, reported the newspaper. Since the global outbreak, Myanmar monks have also reportedly poured holy water from a hot air balloon over Mogok and Bagan, but nothing yet to quite match Sri Lanka's efforts, which involved deploying two helicopters to sprinkle holy water across the Indian Ocean island in a spiritual offensive against the pandemic.

Myanmar yesterday confirmed its 16th case and its first death from coronavirus on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of migrant workers returning from Thailand has been a major source of concern for officials, who fear they will spread the virus as they travel across Myanmar.

The workers had been told to quarantine for two weeks on arrival, however the instruction was widely ignored, reported magazine Frontier Myanmar.

Some areas have taken the initiative, however, and set up temporary quarantine camps.

Humanitarian aid worker Matt Walsh tweeted images of the living quarters that await migrants returning to Shan and Wa states.