FROM:   UN 7 July 2021 health

The United Nations Burma team today expressed concern about the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. In the past two weeks, the positive rate of COVID-19 tests in Burma has more than doubled.

The U.N. country team in Myanmar said the positive rate of the new crown test in Myanmar reached 22.3% on July 4, up from about 10% two weeks ago.

In addition, a variety of COVID-19 variants have been detected, including the delta variant.

According to WHO, up to now, 176 thousand people in Burma have been infected with COVID-19, and 3570 people have died. But in the past 24 hours, there have been 3570 new cases and 57 new deaths. The United Nations Burma team warned that the massive outbreak of COVID-19 would have devastating consequences for the health and economy of the Burmese.

After Myanmar's military coup in early February this year, the country quickly fell into a multidimensional human rights disaster triggered by political crisis, which affected the medical sector. Since 1 February, there have been at least 240 attacks on health facilities, medical staff, ambulances and patients, making it impossible to test, treat and vaccinate COVID-19.

The United Nations country team in Myanmar stressed the importance of restoring the provision of basic health services, taking measures to prevent the spread of the virus and expanding vaccination. Therefore, we must ensure the safety of health facilities and protect patients, health workers and other service providers.