11th Coordination Meeting: SAC Chairman Addresses The Meeting

The Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing addressed the 11th coordination meeting on prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19 held at the Bayintnaung Villa in Nay Pyi Taw, Monday morning.

At the meeting, the Prime Minister stressed the need to put efforts for effectively taking preventive, control and treatment measures of COVID-19 with momentum so as to carry out peace and stability tasks and construction tasks of the State to be able to reach the level of efficiently controlling the pandemic.

In his opening speech, the Senior General said the infection rate declines to some extent due to utmost efforts through meetings with the formation of the central level for prevention, control and treatment of COVID-19 as of July when the third wave started. The globe faces over 221 million infected persons and some 4.6 million dead persons, the United States of America more than 40 million infected persons and India 33 million.

Among ASEAN countries, Indonesia was top with over four million infected persons and over 136,000 dead persons.

Myanmar stands the sixth position in ASEAN countries with over 400,000 infected persons and some 15,800 deaths. The government allows production processes and agriculture and livestock tasks under the COVID-19 restrictions for earning income for the State through exportation.

Myanmar does not face shortages of foodstuffs as efforts are being made to produce foodstuffs. Some countries encounter high prices of foodstuffs due to a shortage of workers for the industries.

The Senior General said: “Our ethnics are working in neighbouring countries. Early this month, they wished to return home. We decided to call them back and order to do so. We share the future at home instead of working abroad. The government is a shade for all as well as the country. So, I ordered them to call them back home to share the sweet future.

In the past, the government did not allow their returns. In my tenure, I call them back home. Last week when they arrived back in Myanmar, some of them kissed the ground and paid homage to it. Whatever it may be, I will call back our ethnic people to Myanmar. Our government does not abandon the citizens residing abroad. It was related to the COVID case.

If they face other problems, they are invited to contact the Myanmar embassies. We will arrange for them without fail. They may come back home. It doesn’t matter even if they make problems. I have kept patience over them. We have such a concept for ethnic affairs. So, I’d like to urge respective region and state governments to systematically deal with the health issue of ethnic people under fair management with patience for them similar to their relatives.

If we do everything with goodwill, we can achieve success. The Senior General noted that the outbreak of COVID-19 is very long. It is necessary to carry out other tasks of nation-building endeavours.

Efforts must be made for effectively taking preventive, control and treatment measures of COVID-19 with momentum so as to carry out peace and stability tasks and construction tasks of the State to be able to reach the level of efficiently controlling the pandemic. If so, the process leading to the vision will be smooth. Then, the Senior General stressed that people from rural areas and border areas have a misunderstanding over the health measures.

So, it is necessary to raise health awareness for them. The Ministry of Health is primarily performing the vaccination process. Vaccines must be systematically stored not to lessening the potency. Not only medicines related to COVID-19 but the drugs for cancer and heart diseases must be imported as quickly as possible.

Arrangements must be made for vaccinating all the people without leaving the aged and chronic patients. It is necessary to explain the possibility of infection for non-vaccinated persons. Only when the infection rate of the disease is controlled, can the government manage economic, education and other tasks. Hence, officials need to strive for declining infection rates in their areas.