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Students become COVID-19 victims as the junta focuses on stabilizing their power

HURFOM: For more than a year since the 2021 coup, the military junta has focused their attention and resources on stabilizing their power, while neglecting measures to control the pandemic. Students are one of the groups paying the price for this decision by the junta.

Case counts have been increasing steadily on a daily basis, and a cluster of COVID-19 infections was recently reported amongst high school students from Chaung Zone, Mawlamyine, Mudon and Thanbyuzayat Townships. 

“They’ve gotten COVID-19 from a teacher who moved here from Yangon. Many schools now have COVID-19 infections,” said a Mudon resident.

Even though there are many schools with high rates of COVID-19 infection, the department has no plan to close or lock down these schools.  At best they just close one or two classrooms but keep the rest of the school open.

“Their approach to try and  control COVID-19 is to just close an infected classroom. They maintain a normal teaching program in the other rooms,” said a social activist in Mawlamyine.

The junta-controlled Department of Basic Education has no concrete plan for the control and prevention of the COVID-19 in schools and they have just focused on continuing operations for the rest of the academic year.

“According to the teachers, the school hasn’t been locked down even though there were COVID-19 cases. The students are afraid of being at schools. Some students don’t go to  their school, even if they paid the tuition,” said a high-school student from Mudon Township.

On February 12, 2022, the military council organized a ceremony to mark the  “75^th Myanmar Union Day” with roughly  85 students from Naypyidaw joining  the event, despite some being infected with the virus. Eventually the council had to postpone the students’ exams.

According to data released by the junta-controlled Department of Basic Education, Mon State had 57 new cases as of  February 14 and then it jumped to 140 new cases on February 15, 2022.

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