YANGON (UCAN): The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar issued a statement on February 6 cancelling the annual Marian celebration of Our Lady of Lourdes, originally scheduled from February 7 to 16, in view of the Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak. It said new dates would be announced later.
“We have cancelled it to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Myanmar’s health ministry has declared the coronavirus an epidemic or notifiable disease and it is very concerned over the fast spread of the disease in several countries,” Charles Maung Cardinal Bo, archbishop of Yangon and chairperson of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, explained. He urged people to pray at the national Marian shrine as families and as organisations instead.
The feast has been held in Nyaunglebin in Yangon, since 1902 and the Church has designated it a national pilgrimage centre.
Cardinal Bo issued a message on February 24 stressing the sanctity of human life and compassion as authorities in Myanmar geared up for a possible outbreak.
“Our deep sympathies to people and countries affected by this lethal virus. This is the time of universal brotherhood of humanity. It is not a time for mutual blame. Let us remember every brother and sister affected in our prayers every day. Pope Francis has appealed for prayer support. He said, ‘Let us all pray for our brothers and sisters who are distressed by the cruel coronavirus epidemic’,” Cardinal Bo wrote in a Facebook post.
“While emergency responses are to be taken at a war footing, serious introspection needs to be taken at various levels at the ultimate meaning and destination of human life. A world devoid of the transcendental value of human life tends to commodify everything that is sacred, reducing human life to a cog in the market economy,” the cardinal wrote.
Cardinal Bo said disasters and virus pandemics periodically remind humanity that we have only one planet. “We either stand together or fall together. Lessons need to be learned, transcending parochial interests,” he wrote.
The cardinal’s message came two days after the government of Myanmar said it wanted to impose tough freedom of speech restrictions across all media, including social media, concerning Covid-19.
The Health and Sports Ministry said on February 24 that while there were no confirmed coronavirus cases so far in a nation that shares a 2,200-kilometre border with China, it was concerned an outbreak could still occur as the number of infections was still rising in China.
“Only essential gatherings should be allowed and, if held, participants must strictly follow the precautionary guidelines issued by the ministry,” it said.
Myanmar’s churches and other places of worship have remained open.
A new bill proposed by the ministry aims to replace the 1995 Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law. The ministry said it is aimed at those “who spread fake news intentionally.”
Crucially, the government can withhold vital information from the general population about where the disease might have spread. Breaching secrecy can result in hefty fines or being sued. Press Council executives are wary of the new legislation, saying it could deprive people of life-saving information
Observers fear that the move risks repeating the mistakes of Chinese authorities who shut down people commenting on the epidemic online in early January. That included eight medical professionals, one of whom died from the disease.
Impoverished Myanmar has poor health facilities and until February 21 was unable to test for the virus inside the country, instead sending samples to Thailand.
Since it became clear that the Covid-19 coronavirus was more than just a localised problem in late January, Myanmar has not stopped people from China entering the country, which relies heavily on Chinese tourism and investment.
While planes are still arriving, Chinese people are not. “They are simply not coming,” said one hotel owner. The Chinese make up close to 50 per cent of hotel visitors. Tour operators in financial and cultural hub Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, said business had collapsed.
Trade with China has also been affected, particularly for fruit, vegetables and seafood, after China closed four border crossings at the start of the Lunar New Year to help contain the spread of the disease, according to Frontier Myanmar.
Factory owners in Yangon are closing their doors as items and parts from China have not arrived due to the almost total shutdown of the Chinese industrial sector.
“The international impact of this virus attack is deadly,” Cardinal Bo wrote.
“The economy is taking a hard hit in many countries. Tourism is in violent turbulence, markets are wobbling. Though it is not apocalypse, the WHO (World Health Organisation) has declared the crisis one of the most critical challenges to humanity,” the cardinal said.
As of March 9, 62,176 people have recovered from Covid-19 infection, 3,818 people have died, while 109,045 cases had been confirmed from across 100 nations, but mostly in mainland China.
