COVID-19 surges in Myanmar

Coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the Asian country also known as Burma, where political unrest and violence have run rampant since a military coup in February. New daily cases in the country are at the highest reported levels since the pandemic started. The Health Ministry on Thursday closed schools for two weeks, and stay-at-home orders are in effect in several cities, including Yangon.

What is causing the surge? Since the coup, many people have avoided military hospitals, and some healthcare workers protested the ruling junta by boycotting the state’s health system. Officials arrested those who ran makeshift clinics. Reliable data is limited, but as of last month, only 3.2 percent of the population at most was fully vaccinated.

Dig deeper: Read Angela Lu Fulton’s report on the political unrest in Myanmar.