When Myanmar Faces Two Storms: Floods and a Foamy COVID-19 Surge
Surging Waters, Sapping Homes
Heavy rains over the weekend turned southern towns into watery playgrounds, turning streets and alleys into puddles big enough to drown most of your furniture. Residents were forced to shuffle COVID patients out of sickbeds into dry spots, cutting the already strained medical infrastructure even further.
“Ruined Houses, Roaming Illness” – A Kayin State Perspective
“Hundreds of houses are submerged in water and only their roofs can be seen,” Pyae Sone, a socially‑active worker in Hlaingbwe, told Reuters by phone. He added, “the water started rising early on Monday.”
“Covid‑19 is spreading here. A lot of people cannot smell anymore, some feel sick, but it’s hard to tell if it’s Covid or a seasonal flu,” he said. With no safe shelter or home to retreat to, the disease spreads like a runaway stock‑market ticker.
Underground Ambulances and A-Powered Tables
- A team of volunteers and medical professionals trudged a patient rooted to an oxygen tank across murky flood water in Myawaddy.
- Facebook photos from the Karen Information Centre (KIC) show the brave, water‑logged effort.
Thailand Border Complicates the Crisis
About 500 residential slots across the Thai border faced water damage, displacing roughly the same number of people. Mawlamyine, some 120 km away, also claimed another 500 residents were stranded by the annual floods.
One–If‑You‑Know–the Numbers
4,630 new cases and 396 deaths reported this Monday—the official count. Medics and funeral services suggest the real toll could be larger. This surge stacks perfectly against a surge of new cases in Yunnan, China’s border province.
Political Tension Makes Fighting a Health Crisis Even Harder
If you thought medical staff was the effort, just wait. The military, frustrated by doctors who voiced support for anti‑junta protests, has arrested a handful of doctors treating COVID patients independently. Since the February coup, resistance has sparked nationwide protests, strikes, and armed clashes on multiple border fronts. The nation thus wears a double‑layered mask: conflict and an invisible disease.
Bottom Line
Floods, displacement, and an escalating COVID wave all slam into each other—like a bad remix where every track hurts. Let’s hope the next beat transforms into a recovery dance.
