University is COVID-19 hotspot in Myanmar third wave

A third wave of COVID-19 has hit Myanmar, causing great concern as its health sector has been hampered by a boycott and suspensions of medical personnel opposed to military rule.

The Myanmar military government has not been able to deal with the latest wave effectively, according to political activists, noting some outbreaks in schools and universities which re-opened recently, including Mawlamyine University.

They criticised the military government for refusing to close individual universities to contain the outbreak.

Daily infections have significantly increased in Myanmar, with 1,580 COVID-19 cases registered on 30 June – the highest recorded during the current third wave, according to the Ministry of Health. It announced that new COVID mutations, including the Alpha and Delta variants, were responsible for increased transmission and mortality.

Detained state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi told lawyers during her ongoing trial on Monday that she was concerned about rising cases of coronavirus in the country, one of her lawyers told reporters. “She urged people to be more careful about the spread of the virus. She said she also had a test before coming to the court hearing,” he said.

Since the re-opening of schools and universities last month, some individual schools and universities have become hotspots with a private school registering 250 cases, according to local news organisations.

At Mawlamyine University, the largest university in Mon State, Southeast Myanmar, more than 100 students, staff and teachers were found to be infected, according to the Mawlamyine University Students’ Union.

On 6 May, 134 universities around Myanmar re-opened after being closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, only a handful of students attended, with over 90% of the students, teachers and staff joining the civil disobedience movement (CDM) against the military government and boycotting the return, according to the National Unity Government (NUG) of elected lawmakers from Myanmar’s ousted civilian government, members of ethnic groups and others now in exile.

Around 400 students have attended Mawlamyine University or just 12% of the student body in the past month since it re-opened.

The university detected its first three positive cases of COVID-19 on 13 June. However, according to the chairman of the Mawlamyine University Students’ Union, the university administration allegedly hid information about the campus outbreak.

He told University World News that the university administration allowed a physics student who fell sick to go back home to Thanbyuzayat Township on 17 June, where she tested positive. The university then allowed her roommate to go home to Paung Township, he said, where she tested positive on 19 June.

The union believes the number of COVID-19 cases at the campus is much higher than stated because of mismanagement by the university administrators. “We reported this to the NUG government to take action,” he said, referring to a letter sent to NUG by the Mawlamyine University Interim Administrative Council.

University closures not on the cards

Teachers and students, including those who joined CDM, want the university to be closed to contain the growing outbreak of COVID-19 cases, not just because of the ongoing CDM boycott.

However, the university authorities forced students to sit an exam on 22 June, according to the letter. This was despite the risks of taking an examination indoors in a confined space. Universities around Myanmar held exams on 22 to 29 June.

The letter said even though they did not want to prevent students who wanted to attend classes, there was concern that students returning to their hometowns after their exams could spread infection when they returned.

“The students finished their exams on 29 June and are going back to their hometowns now. The situation is getting worse,” a mathematics lecturer at Mawlamyine University who withdrew from CDM to return to teaching there told University World News.

She voiced concern that the university would be badly affected when students return from areas with large numbers of cases but said she did not expect the military government to close the university to prevent this. The military government plans to start the second semester in the second week of July. However, if things get worse, the Ministry of Health could impose a stay-at-home order, she said.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has not spread widely in universities in Yangon yet. The virus is spreading only on the borders and small townships,” chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions told University World News, adding: “We are only focusing on fighting against the military regime now.”

He described the military regime as “more frightening than the virus”.

Lack of testing since the coup

Myanmar’s first registered cases of COVID-19 were on 23 March 2020, which led to universities and schools being closed because of the pandemic. As of mid-August 2020, only 375 cases were reported in the first five months of the first COVID-19 outbreak.

During the second wave which began in September 2020, the number of infections rose daily, reaching a peak of 2,158 on 10 October, but had declined again by January this year.

The current third wave began in early June with the daily number of cases rising steeply during the month.

COVID-19 testing stopped after the coup in the first week of February 2021 when doctors, nurses, professors and volunteer medical students under the Ministry of Health joined CDM, opposing the military government.

The military has pressed charges against many medical doctors and medical students for participating in CDM protests and has issued arrest warrants under Section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, which carries a maximum three-year sentence.

In addition, the passports of the doctors and their medical licences were revoked and travel abroad banned. This has disrupted the entire healthcare system including COVID-19 protection.

As of 1 July, Myanmar has registered 157,277 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and a total of 3,334 deaths.

The death toll from COVID-19 is increasing day by day and could be higher outside COVID-19 quarantine centres as hospital treatment is limited.

An English lecturer at Hpa-An University, suspended from her job for joining CDM, told University World News that “because the military government’s authority is not very effective and most of the doctors have joined CDM, it is more difficult to control the outbreak”.

More than 125,900 Myanmar teachers as well as 13,000 academics and staff at various universities have been suspended since May.

Around 883 people are now confirmed killed by the military forces, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a civil society organisation. The actual number of fatalities is likely much higher. As of 29 June, 5,224 people were under detention. However, the military government released 2,296 political prisoners on Wednesday evening, 30 June. Some university students, including medical students, were released but many still remain behind bars.