The doctors have pledged their help through the Myanmar Medical Association, according to U Thaung Nyunt, a senior official of the organisation.





“Any doctor who is interested can contact us. We have no limitations. We will supply volunteer doctors where the government needs them,” he said.

The volunteer doctors include retired doctors, practicing doctors, surgeons, orthopaedists, and paediatricians. Most of the doctors are general practitioners in the Yangon Region, he said.

The association put out a request in Yangon last Thursday for volunteer doctors to work with the Ministry of Health and Sports to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

It supports the policy of the ministry to work for containment of the virus through early detection, isolation of cases, and the quarantine of people suspected to be infected.

From January 31 through Sunday, health authorities had tested 197 people who showed symptoms of COVID-19, but all the results were negative.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. The disease has caused over 15,300 deaths.

Myanmar has suspended all large public gatherings – including the Thingyan festival in April, the country’s biggest annual holiday – in a bid to prevent an outbreak of the disease here.





The ministry has urged people to check its website or Facebook page for regular updates and the latest information on COVID-19 in the country.

The Myanmar government said it has found no COVID-19 cases since the outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December, but the country has been on edge amid rumours about people being infected with the disease.