Myanmar Bans Eating at Restaurants as Coronavirus Cases Surge

Myanmar has banned eating at restaurants nationwide starting this week as the country’s coronavirus caseload jumped from hundreds to more than 6,000 over the last month in a country ill-equipped to deal with a major outbreak.

The order went into effect after recent infections were traced to restaurant, a spokesperson from Myanmar’s presidential office said. Earlier this month, the commercial capital Yangon, which is under new lockdown orders and has the most confirmed infections in the country, imposed similar dine-in restrictions.

The move also applies to teashops, which are ubiquitous across the country. Take-away and delivery services are still allowed.

As of Monday, Sept. 21, health authorities reported 610 new coronavirus cases totalling 6,151 cases. The death toll was pegged at 98.

As cases soared, the government also imposed stay at home orders and told companies in Yangon region to implement work from home schemes. Domestic airlines have suspended their services until the end of September.

Myanmar was run by the military for almost five decades and its health system suffered from widespread neglect during junta rule, leaving it deeply unprepared to deal with a pandemic.

A new civilian-led administration came into power in 2016 led by former human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now campaigning for a second term.

Despite calls to postpone the general election in November over virus fears, it will go ahead.

Myint Naing, a senior official at Myanmar’s Union Election Commission, confirmed to reporters in an online briefing that the vote will be held as planned on Nov. 8 2020.

"We don't have a plan to postpone the election because of COVID-19," he said.

Polling stations will be increased from 40,000 to 50,000 to avoid overcrowding, he added.

The November vote is a crucial test for leader Suu Kyi, who led her party to a landslide and historic victory in 2015 but has faced international condemnation over her handling of the Rohingya crisis that erupted two years later.