A man’s starved body was photographed outside a bus terminal in central Myanmar. He was not a victim of Covid-19, but of the measures taken to protect people against the virus.
Po Kyaw, a 42-year-old waste collector, died of malnutrition early this morning at a highway bus station in Magway region’s Pakokku, police told online media Voice of Myanmar.
“Early in April, he sold us recycled items from the rubbish bin and trash pile,” Win Shwe, the owner of a shop that buys recycled waste such as plastic, newspapers, tin cans, and glass bottles, told the outlet.
“However, we closed our business due to Covid-19. We didn’t see him since then.”
Waste collectors play an important role in Myanmar’s recycling industry by selling back usable material to eke out a living, sometimes from meal to meal.
It can take weeks and months to die of malnutrition. Po Kyaw was likely weak before the closure of Win Shwe’s business and a lack of recycling shops—a means to earn and eat—might have been the tipping point for his health.
Millions of others face the same predicament as Po Kyaw did before his death. But authorities were forced to shut down the economy and order people to stay at home in order to avoid a spiralling pandemic; cases of starvation were a harrowing consequence that many saw as inevitable.
The health ministry recorded six new cases of Covid-19 yesterday, bringing the total number to 161 cases, six deaths, and 49 recoveries.
The overall impact of the virus is much harder to calculate, but with the absence of economic safety nets, as well as the rise of domestic abuse and the drop in social services, the effects will have varying shades of tragedy.
Among Monday’s confirmed cases was the first Myanmar military soldier to test positive in the country.
The office of Myanmar's military chief announced the soldier has been quarantined at a military hospital in Naypyidaw since May 1.
The office said the soldier is in a stable condition in the hospital designated for Covid-19 patients.
It added that five military officers, who are currently undergoing a military training in Russia’s capital Moscow, also tested positive for the disease.
