22 March

MYANMAR still claims to have avoided the corona-virus pandemic despite being surrounded by three countries battling  the  virus,  including  China  where  the  outbreak  started. As of Friday evening, 176 suspected cases have been tested since January, with none having  returned  a  positive  result,  according  to  the  gov-ernment. Additionally, 12 sus-pected cases are still awaiting test  results,  the  latest  health  ministry update said. Although no  confirmed  case  has  been  identified,  the  authorities  are  taking measures to prevent the virus from gaining a foothold in the country.

Strict temperature screen-ing and health checks are be-ing  implemented  at  shopping  malls,  hotels  and  restaurants  and occasionally even at park-ing  lots  since  mid-February.  The  government  led  by  State  Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has decided to cancel most events and celebrations involv-ing  mass  gatherings,  includ-ing  the  annual  water  festival  Thingyan held in mid-April.

It has also ordered the clo-sure of cinemas, bars and kara-oke bars until the end of April.

Daw  Aung  San  Suu  Kyi’s  administration  has  announced  tax  relief  plans  for  small  busi-nesses  and  low-interest  loans  for  the  garment  sector,  aiming  to  keep  factories  running  and  to  minimize  the  impact  on  the  economy.

On Friday, the government suspended visas on arrival and e-visa  systems  temporarily  for  all  foreign  nationals  as  part  of  its  stepped-up  precautionary  measures.

It  also  began  enforcing  a  compulsory  14-day  quarantine  for all travellers arriving from or having visited the United States and eight more European coun-tries  including  Britain  during  the past two weeks.

Compulsory quarantine reg-ulations were earlier announced for  travellers  arriving  from  China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France, Spain and Germany.

Myanmar  shares  a  nearly  2,200-kilometre land border with mainland China, where the coro-navirus  outbreak  began,  and  a  2,400-km border with Thailand, which announced 89 more cases Saturday.

The  country  also  shares  a  1,600-km  border  with  India,  which  has  over  270  confirmed  cases.—Kyodo News