Myanmar residents barricade city streets as COVID-19 cases rise
YANGON: Some residents of Myanmar's biggest city used pieces of wood and corrugated iron to mak..
YANGON: Some residents of Myanmar's biggest city used pieces of wood and corrugated iron to make barricades around their neighbourhoods late on Friday (Sep 11), trying to keep out COVID-19 as the country grapples with a second wave of infections.
The Southeast Asian nation has reported a total of 2,625 coronavirus cases and 15 deaths. The number of infections has quadrupled since mid-August, when the virus resurfaced in the western state of Rakhine after weeks without a domestic case.
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People walk past a makeshift barricade blocking off a street to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Yangon, Myanmar, September 12, 2020. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya Tin
Many of the recent cases have been in Yangon, the commercial capital and biggest city. Residents started erecting the makeshift roadblocks to stop people freely entering and leaving their districts.
Last week, government authorities issued stay-at-home orders for residents, and airlines and buses suspended services in and out of the city.
A woman passes a package to a man behind a makeshift barricade, blocking off a street to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Yangon, Myanmar, September 12, 2020. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya Tin
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Aung Zaw Min, the chief of a district in Kyimyidaing township who was guarding one of the barriers, said residents had been careless about keeping the virus at bay after the previously low rate of infections.
"Now we have to realise we cannot underestimate the mass infection caused by Sittwe," he said, referring to Rakhine's state capital, where many recent cases were detected.
The barricades were built without permission from local authorities, who swiftly ordered the removal of the biggest barriers, though some were still in place on Saturday.
People chat with a barricade between them blocking off their street to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Yangon, Myanmar, September 12, 2020. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya Tin
