Myanmar Church joins nation in
fight against Covid-19
 |
| Firefighters disinfecting the Swedagon Pagoda compound in Yangon |
The Catholic Church of Myanmar has set up a national
coordination team to help the Southeast Asian country fight the spread of the
coronavirus pandemic.
By Robin Gomes
The Catholic Church of Myanmar is playing a key role in the
battle against Covid-19 as cases surge in the impoverished Southeast Asian
nation.
Church’s coordination team
Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, leads the
Church’s national coordination team on Covid-19 that prioritizes prevention and
awareness campaigns as well as offers Church properties as quarantine centres
in the 16 dioceses across the country in collaboration with public health
departments.
The team, which was established in Yangon on Monday,
consists of bishops from Caritas Myanmar, the healthcare commission, Catholic
doctors and members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar (CBCM).
It will carry out awareness campaigns through Radio Veritas Asia and the Facebook
page of the social
communications office.
Bishop Alexander Pyone Cho of Pyay, head of the CBCM’s
healthcare commission, said the team has discussed preparations on how the
Church will contribute to fighting Covid-19.
“As the world, including Myanmar, grapples with containing
the coronavirus, we all need to join hands in fighting Covid-19,” he told UCA
News.
Since last week, 16 dioceses have suspended daily and Sunday
Masses and other liturgical ceremonies. Catholics have been urged to take
part in online Sunday and Holy Week ceremonies from home.
The Islamic Religious Council of Myanmar last week offered
to turn mosques and religious schools into quarantine sites, while some
Buddhist monasteries have already done so.
Government response
With a population of some 54 million, the Southeast Asian
country has a weak healthcare system following decades of neglect under the
former ruling military junta.
On March 13, Myanmar formed the “COVID-19 Control and
Emergency Response Committee”, an emergency task force in cooperation with the
military and civilian government ministries, to support and step up the
nation’s response to the pandemic.
“If each of us works with a full sense of duty to stop the
spread of Covid-19, we will be able to overcome this challenge,” State
Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who heads the Committee, said in a televised
address on Tuesday.
Myanmar on Tuesday reported a total of 15 cases, just a week
after the country’s first two cases were confirmed, mostly among those who have
travelled overseas.
A 69-year-old nose cancer patient, who returned on March 14
after a month’s treatment in Australia, died in a hospital in Yangon Tuesday
morning, becoming the country’s first fatality.
Measures
Myanmar’s Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) warned on
Sunday that the country is at a very high risk of a “major outbreak” of
COVID-19 as large numbers of migrant workers return from Thailand.
The foreign ministry has announced that those who enter
Myanmar through border points will no longer be allowed to go to their homes
directly and will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period at
government-designated facilities that are being expanded.
More than 23,000 people returned from Thailand via Myawaddy
in Karen state on March 28 and 29, according to MOHS data.
More than 877,000 cases have been reported worldwide with
over 43,000 deaths.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét