NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar is seeking international help for medical equipment and supplies in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
The appeal was made by the Foreign Ministry in a statement issued to foreign embassies on Friday, The Myanmar Times reported.
The Health Ministry needed more Covid-19 test kits to boost its surveillance capacity in monitoring those suspected of contracting the disease, the statement said.
“The ministry would highly appreciate it if the diplomatic and consular missions, and the offices of the United Nations, its specialised agencies and international organisations in Myanmar could mobilise donors in providing necessary medical equipment and supplies,” it read.
Myanmar recorded 20 cases of infections since it reported the first two Covid-19 patients on March 23, with one death.
The ministry gave an assurance that the government was doing its best to contain the virus.
This included preventing people from travelling during the 10-day Thingyan Festival, the most celebrated holiday in the country, on April 17.
President U Win Myint issued a standing order for all state and regional governments not to allow civil servants to travel during Thingyan, except for funerals.
In his statement, the president said once the virus was contained, alternative leave could be arranged for civil servants.
The country’s two biggest cities, Yangon and Mandalay, also restricted people from entering and leaving their homes during the holiday.
Mandalay Mayor U Ye Lwin, on Friday, said from April 7 to April 21, all vehicles would not be allowed to enter or leave the city.
The city government would shut down hotels and guesthouses, the mayor added.
On Friday, the Yangon regional government committee on Covid-19 instructed officials of the 45 townships in the region to tell their constituents not to go outside between April 10 and 19, except to buy food and medicine.