Posts in category: COVID

Over 2 million people in Myanmar have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus till 4 September, and those who still need a second dose are being vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health. The vaccines are being given priority to 36.9 million people over the age of 18 in Myanmar. As of 4 September, a total of 2,670,333 people have been fully vaccinated and 2,189,931 people have received one dose of the vaccine, according to the Ministry.

A total of 2 million doses of Sinopharm (Beijing) vaccine purchased from China arrived at the Yangon International Airport on 28 August. It was received by a team led by the head of Yangon Region Medical Services Department and Public Health Department. It is being distributed to across the country starting from 29 August.

Myanmar has already received 6.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine including 2.5 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China, 2 million doses of Sinovac vaccines and 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines imported from China. Currently, the country administrated 150,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the target groups daily. Since January 2021, the country has been administering vaccinations, using the China-made Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, across the country.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The Ministry of Health is continuously conducting the COVID-19 surveillance procedures, especially the surveillance of the COVID-19 variants, in collaboration with the Medical Research Unit of the Ministry of Defence. A laboratory test on 28 August 2021 revealed that 15 people had been diagnosed with the COVID-19 Delta variant (Variants of Concern), which need special care.

Of them, five were from Nay Pyi Taw, two from Yangon, two from Mandalay, and one each from Sittway, Toungoo, Lashio, Mawlamyine, Monywa and Kalay, respectively. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Delta variant was first discovered in India and is endemic in 163 countries, at present.

Delta variant is considered to have a higher risk of death due to their higher risk of infection and disease severity. In addition, it has also been shown to slightly reduce the effectiveness of some COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, the people are urged to strictly adhere to the guidelines, orders and procedures issued by the Ministry of Health in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease to their families and environment.

Ministry of Health

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

9th Waning of Wagaung 1383 ME
31 August 2021

1. The State Administration Council issued Notification No 255/2021 dated 30-8-2021 to set the successive public holidays from 1 to 10 September 2021.
2. To effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19 during these public holidays, the people must obey the following rules: –
   (a) Reside at homes or dormitories, and not to travel at all except for duty and funeral services;
   (b) Manage to open the Central Bank of Myanmar and its subsidiary government banks and private banks as usual;
   (c) Not to decline the productivity, the factories and industries must operate under the supervision of the Ministry of Labour, Nay Pyi Taw Council and region/state governments in line with the COVID-19 health rules of the Ministry of Health;
   (d) To adopt the work-from-home system or other proper methods for important office work of the relevant departments;
   (e) To open shops on sales of basic essential things like fuel, drinking water, meat, fish and foodstuffs;
   (f) To manage the opening of pharmacy and medical shops and medical companies;
   (g) To sell foodstuffs at restaurants in a take-away system;
   (h) To continue healthcare services (government hospitals/private hospitals and clinics);
   (i) To wear protective gears, including masks, if they go outside;
   (j) To operate the land, sea and aviation services under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Nay Pyi Taw Council and region/state governments;
   (k) To comply with the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) of trucks to facilitate the flow of goods;
   (l) To continue opening of cargo ports;
   (m) To follow the COVID-19 health rules of the Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment for COVID-19 and the Ministry of Health without fail.
3. Action will be taken against those who fail to abide by the above-mentioned orders under the existing law

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

A total of two million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, purchased from the People’s Republic of China, arrived at Yangon International Airport yesterday evening. The vaccines were received by the team led by the Yangon Region Public Health Department Head at the airport and stored at the Central Storage Facility for Vaccine in Yangon. The newly-arrived COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed to respective regions and states via roads and with the help of Tatmadaw aircraft under the necessary temperature. The Ministry of Health has been administering the COVID-19 vaccines in states/ regions as per the national priority programme.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The Ministry of Health conducts vaccination programmes in respective regions/states for target populations. Starting 26 July 2021, the ministry used Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines donated by China and purchased from China to vaccinate the public for the first injection. For the second dose, the ministry distributed the vaccines via land or with the help of Tatmadaw (Air) and MAI to the remote areas starting 21 August 2021. The vaccines were allocated to Mon, Kayin, Ayeyawady, Bago, Taninthayi, Shan, Magway, Sagaing, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Kachin and Rakhine until 25 August 2021. These vaccines were also used to vaccinate the factory workers in Yangon, Mandalay, Bago and Ayeyawady regions.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Ministry of Health
Order No 332/2021

Fullmoon of Wagaung 1383 ME
22 August 2021

The Ministry of Health hereby announced the order by exercising the authority stipulated in Sub-Section (b) of
Section 21 of the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law.

1. The Ministry of Health has taken preventive measures against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in real-time. Therefore, people from some townships of Nay Pyi Taw, Union Territory Area and Taninthayi Region need to stay at home due to the number of confirmed patients on the rise in these townships.
2. Hence, the people residing in the following townships in Nay Pyi Taw, Union Territory Area and Taninthayi Region are involved in the Stay-at-Home programme.
   (a) Nay Pyi Taw, Union Territory Area
   (1) Tatkon Township
   (b) Taninthayi Region
   (1) Dawei Township
   (2) Myeik Township
3. The people inclusive of the Stay-at-Home programme of the township need to abide by the following disciplines:- (a) Reside at their homes only
   (1) except for service personnel serving at government department;
   (2) except for those serving at private firms such as banks and monetary services, filling stations, foodstuffs and livestock and fishery, cold storage, medicine and medical equipment production and distribution, purified water production and sales, factories of manufacturing daily personal goods and related industries;
   (3) those in the airline industry who provide services in relief flights/cargo flights and charter flights, ground services, aircraft refuelling, import/export of goods by air, international freight forwarder companies, companies and agencies that provide customs services, aircraft food production and export and aircraft maintenance;
   (4) except for staff from private ports, shipping agencies offices, international freight forwarder companies, customer service companies and agencies, container truck services, port export and import cargo trucks and watercraft, inland container depot and dry ports;
   (5) except for staff from communication service providers such as post services, line phones and mobile phone communication services, internet services (exclusive of sales of telephone and data at shops), tower and fibre maintenance services;
   (b) relevant region and state governments to issue necessary orders and directives and supervision for prevention of COVID-19 infection at CMP factories and workshops;
   (c) organizations and companies to perform their works from homes;
   (d) one person from each house to go out shopping;
   (e) only two persons per house to go to hospitals and clinics;
   (f) wear masks if they go outside the houses;
   (g) allow ferries and registered vehicles only to transport returnees from workplaces to pass the wards;
   (h) allow one person only in addition to the driver in a vehicle for shopping in the ward and two persons except for the driver to go to hospitals or clinics;
   (i) abide by the standard operating procedures (SOP) for trucks to ensure smooth flow of commodities in the township;
4. People need to inform relevant ward/village administration bodies about seeking approvals to go outside the houses if they have reasons to raise the limited number of participants in the measures and other emergency issues mentioned in subparagraphs (d), (e) and (h) of Paragraph 3. The relevant administrative bodies need not allow ingoing and outgoing persons, except for officials and those returnees from duty.
5. Action will be taken against those who fail to abide by the order under the existing laws.
6. The order came into force at 4 am on 23-8-2021.

Dr Thet Khaing Win
Union Minister

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The special flight carrying anti-COVID-19 medicines and related materials donated by the Indian government arrived at the Yangon International Airport yesterday. Indian Ambassador to Myanmar H.E. Mr Saurabh Kumar handed over the materials to Director-General Prof Dr Zaw Than Htun of Medical Research Department and Deputy Director General Dr Thidar Hla of Medical Services Department respectively.

The donation included 50,000 Long Surgical Glove (Elbow) sizes 5 and 7, 1,500 Examination Gloves, 570 Digital BP Cuff, one Portable X-ray 100MA, 14,400 KN-95 Medical Mask (GP 19083), 2,000 rapid Antigen Test Kits, 100 Highflow nasal cannulas (HFNC), 292 Body Beds, 1,240 PPE Coverall, 300 Pulse Oximetre (finger Tip), 24 Oxygen Concentrators, 1,600 Apron and 400 Empty Oxygen Cylinders (40-50) LTR.

The Indian government donated eight types of medical equipment weighing more than five tonnes to Myanmar on 15 August and the current second batch of 40 tonnes of medicines yesterday, and they will continue provide third batch of donations, according to the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The Ministry of Commerce is working hard to ensure people have access to essential medical supplies which are critical to the COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment activities, including liquid oxygen and oxygen cylinders, arranging the continuous importation on public holidays. Yesterday, a total of 1,467 oxygen concentrators were imported via airways at the Yangon International Airport.

In addition, 20 tonnes of liquid oxygen, 9 tonnes of liquid oxygen with oxygen cylinders, 1,690 empty oxygen containers, 2,056 home oxygen concentrators, 15,500 PPE suits, 10 tonnes of gloves and 53 tonnes of masks were imported through border trade points. A total of 942 tonnes of liquid oxygen, 72 tonnes of oxygen cylinders, 7 liquid oxygen containers, 6 oxygen distributors, 101,291 empty oxygen containers, 22 oxygen plants, 10 oxygen generators, 72,560 oxygen concentrators, 150,268 test kits, 488,512 PPE suits, 82 tonnes of gloves and 1,036 tonnes of masks have been imported by far in August.

Of 77 liquid oxygen bowsers imported between 1 July and 15 August, 59 of them were distributed to Yangon, 11 to Mandalay, 4 to Mawlamyine, 2 to Bago and 1 to Thaton respectively. Among 30 oxygen plants, 5 were transported to Lashio, 4 each to Yangon and Bago, 3 to Mandalay, 2 each to Pakokku, Hpa-an, and Mawlamyine, one each to Taunggyi, Thanbyuzayat, Magway, Dawei, Wakema, Myittha, Kyaukpadaung and Mogaung respectively. The Ministry on 8 August announced that the border trade points will not be suspended from work on declared public holidays, from 9 to 15 August, and import operations will be conducted as usual. The importation of COVID-19 devices will be allowed in accordance with the SOP priority, negotiated by relevant departments, and online import licence application will also be allowed as usual during the office hours.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The second batch of one million Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines out of two million vaccines purchased from China arrived at the Yangon International Airport yesterday.

Dr Aye Tun, Deputy Minister for Health, and region health departmental officials received the vaccines at the airport.
The vaccines are kept at central cold chain of Public Health Department in Mayangon Township.

The Ministry of Health distributes the vaccines across the nation depending on the population and infection rate, and the people will be vaccinated at the public hospitals and vaccination gathering points according to the National Development Plan.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

During the third wave of COVID-19 in Myanmar, up to 110 townships have been declared Stay at Home by August 4. Stay at Home has been announced in the townships where the number of COVID-19 cases has been found. As of July 31, there are 108 townships in the regions and state; Aung Myay Thar San, Chan Aye Thar San Township, Pyigyidagun Township Maha Aung Myay Township, Patheingyi Township, Pyin Oo Lwin Township, Amarapura Township, Nwathogyi Township, Yamethin Township, Myittha Township, Madara Township, Thabeikkyin Township, Meiktila Township, Wan Dwin Township, Tharsi Township, Five June Township, Taungtha Township, Pyawbwe Township and Myingyan Township.

Thayawady Township, Bago Region Minhla Township Letpadan Phyu Township, Oktwin, Kawa, Kyauk Ta Ga, Daik-U, Waw, Okpho, Nyaung Lay Pin Township and Nattalin Township; Ton Zan in Chin State, Tedim, Falam, Thantlang, Hakha Township, Tamu Township, Sagaing Region, Homalin Township, Kalemyo Township Sagaing City Monywa Township, Lashio, Shan State Naungcho Township Laukkai Township, Kokang Autonomous Region Hsipaw Tachileik Township Muse Township Nyaungshwe Township Taunggyi and Wapsauk townships were declared Stay at Home. In addition, Magway Region; Gangaw Township, Pakokku, Myaing, Taung Twin Gyi, Natmauk, Salin, Sin Paung Wae, Min Tone, Min Hla, Thayet Township, Pwint Phyu Township, Minbu Township and Aunglan Township; Moulmein Township, Mon State Thanbyuzayat Township Thaton and Bilin townships are designated as Stay at Home.

Mingaladon Township, Yangon Region; Hmawbi Township, Shwepyithar Township, Hlaing Tharyar Township, Insein Township, South Okkalapa Township, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township, North Okkalapa Township, Bahan Township, Mayangone Township, Taikgyi Township, Tamwe Township, Dagon Myothit (North), Yankin, Thaketa, Thingangyun, Kamayut, Kyimyindaing, Sanchaung, Dagon Township, Hlaing townships are designated as Stay at Home. Next, Bhamo, Kachin State, Myitkyina, Shwegu, Hpakant Mogaung Township Myawaddy, Kayin State Pathein Township, Ayeyarwady Region Myaungmya Township Tharpaung Township Kan Gyi Daung Hinthada Township Kyonpyaw Township and Bogale Township; Zambu Thiri Township, Nay Pyi Taw Pyinmana Township and Leway Township. Residents of these townships (excluding government employees) are required to live in their own homes and access private banking, banking and financial services. 

Those who go to work to gas stations, food and fish refrigeration; manufacture and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment; water production and distribution, daily personal care factories do not have to be involved in related activities. In addition, there are private ports that provide services for cargo ships at the port. Shipping line local representative offices; International Freight Forwarder; Companies and agencies that provide customs services; Container trucking; Port vehicles for import and export; Shipping; Employees from Inland Container Depot and Dry Pot are not included. Landline and mobile telephony services; Internet services (excluding telephone sales, data sales); Staff from Tower and Fiber Repair Service are not included. In addition, raw material processing and processing (CMP) factory; Relevant Region / State Administrative Councils shall issue necessary directives to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus in the workshops. It is stated that it is to carry out supervision.

Source: Daily Eleven