COVID-19 Hits General Ranks Of The Myanmar Military Regime, Headquarters Commander To Police Chief Treated In Hospital

Meeting of the leadership of the Myanmar military regime. (Source: seniorgeneralminaunghlaing.com.mm)

JAKARTA - The third wave of COVID-19 that hit Myanmar, did not escape infecting the Myanmar military regime, both in the military and police circles, including their families.

While Myanmar's Ministry of Military Health did not mention infections among the military, various sources and reports say the pandemic has spread to regional command headquarters, battalions, and units in Mandalay, Naypyitaw, Yangon, and Mawlamyine.

Soldiers, officers, and their families have been infected, with generals and commanders among those who have fallen ill.

Lieutenant General Than Hlain, Myanmar's police chief and deputy interior minister under the military regime, and his wife, Khin Thidar One, were reportedly undergoing treatment at a military hospital in Zayarthiri Naypyitaw Township at the time of this report.

"The police chief and his wife were hospitalized a few days ago. His wife is now in the intensive care unit," a COVID-19 patient at the same hospital told Myanmar Now, quoted Thursday 22 July.

Before Than Hlaing and his wife were admitted, Second Adjutant Zin Min Htet and his wife were also taken to the hospital after contracting COVID-19, the patient said.

Several residents near the Southeast Regional Command headquarters in Mawlamyine, Mon State, said the Myanmar military regime had restricted the movement of their battalions due to the recent spread of the virus inside the base.

Myanmar police illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Aung Naing Soe/VOA)

Meanwhile, Myanmar Military Headquarters Commander General Ko Ko Maung has reportedly been undergoing COVID-19 treatment for about a week, according to the wife of an officer from the 44th Light Infantry Division (LID) based in Mon State.

"It started with a fever after he came back from making donations at the hospital. Even the medics of the 500-bed (military) Mawlamyine hospital have been infected," he said, referring to a colonel.

He said that almost all of the medical staff of the Mawlamyine military hospital later tested positive for COVID-19, although it is not known whether the virus was brought to the hospital by the general or whether they were already infected at the time of his visit.

"The commander lives in the regional headquarters. We only found out about the infection after he came to the hospital (for a diagnosis). All the doctors at Mawlamyine hospital have been infected except for two people," the officer's wife said.

The military hospital was locked after General Ko Ko Maung's visit, but the outpatient department remained open until Sunday.

Another regional commander, Major General Myat Thet Oo, head of the military's Northern Command in Myitkyina, Kachin State, is also undergoing treatment for COVID-19 this month, according to a July 5 report by Mizzima News. His personal assistant and other military officers were also infected, Mizzima continued.

Separately, about 300 people in the Defense Industry No. 3 in the Bago Region have contracted the virus and nine people have died, according to a July 20 report by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which cited a factory worker.

Despite the high infection rate at the site, most patients did not receive medical care and continued daily operations at the factory, the report said. It added that only two of the deaths had been officially recorded, and were attributed to alcohol abuse.

With cases rising, the military is reportedly no longer conducting COVID-19 tests in many locations and is instead placing troops on lockdown.

A medic with the rank of captain at the Mandalay military hospital estimated that more than 10 family members of military personnel died every day in the hospital due to the pandemic.

“Don't think it's just bad out there. All the families of soldiers in the battalion are also dying," he said, referring to conditions across Myanmar.

He told Myanmar Now that at his hospital they transferred patients who needed critical care to other military hospitals in Meiktila and Pyin Oo Lwin, but the chances of survival were very low.

Myanmar military illustration. (Twitter/@YGNGoldenLand)

"It's so bad in the military. We can't even get people tested anymore. Even though the younger ones have a better chance of survival, the older ones are in very bad shape. We can't even test them. again," he said.

He blamed the military council's poor management skills for the high death rate during the third wave of the pandemic.

"It's really chaos within the military. We can't accept everyone to the hospital. We have to ask them to stay at home and only come to the hospital if they need oxygen," he explained.

In Yangon, about 80 people from a military unit stationed near the Aung Mingalar bus terminal in North Okkalapa Township, were infected with the coronavirus, according to the wife of an officer from LID 44, who cited information she received from family members of officers there.

Among those infected was the unit commander, General Zaw Min Aye, he said. Not only that, but a military medical school is also reported to have closed in Mingaladon Township, due to cadets and senior officers falling ill.

"Even a 1,000-bed hospital is overloaded. We have to manage our own station. We have to quarantine the officers in the barracks for 10 days. We quarantine them for three more days after their sense of smell returns. And then they have to quarantine themselves at home. , said the wife of the officer from Mon State.

Myanmar Now tried to contact the spokesman for the coup council for comment on the Covid-19 situation within the military, but the call went unanswered.

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news covering the Myanmar military coup by clicking this link.