Governments around the world have imposed varied size limits for group gatherings to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. For Myanmar, it was a case of better the devil you know, as the health ministry resurrected a junta-era ban on gatherings of five or more people.
Those who violate the ban can be charged under the 1995 Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law, which carries a prison sentence up to six months, a fine of up to 50,000 kyats (US$35), or both.
Exceptions are civil servants and “companies, factories and workshop” workers commuting to and from work, according to an announcement in state media today.
Buying and selling at permitted markets and shopping malls, transport of permitted commodities, court proceedings, permitted actions against Covid-19, emergency cases, hospital visits, and funerals are also allowed, said the statement.
However the order does not specify whether five or more people can meet in a private setting, such as a family of four visiting two of their relatives.
The original ban on gatherings of five or more people dates from 1988, when the junta crushed nationwide pro-democracy protests.
Falling under “Order No. 2/88 of the Organization for Building Law and Order in the State,” the law was in place for 25 years, until state media said it was being axed because it was not in line with the Constitution.
As of Friday noon, Myanmar confirmed 85 Covid-19 cases and four deaths, according to the health ministry's figures.
A 58-year-old anesthesiologist at Pyay General Hospital in Bago region became the first doctor to catch Covid-19. She was part of a medical team that treated a township administrator, who died on April 8. He had caught the virus from his wife, a nurse at Yangon’s International SOS Clinic.
Tributes to healthcare workers were heard in Yangon at 8pm yesterday, as people gave standing ovations to the medical heroes from windows and balconies—a now worldwide phenomenon to show thanks and encourage the workers in the fight against the new coronavirus.
As the clock strikes 8, downtown Yangon erupts in a round of applause for frontline healthcare workers
Though confirmed cases climb each day (85 so far) as testing expands, a COVID-19 outbreak has yet to be felt on Myanmar's under-funded health sector pic.twitter.com/wuhDylemL2
— Ben Dunant (@BenedictDunant) April 16, 2020
