KUALA LUMPUR – The act of raising flags to ask for help amid the pandemic has spread to Myanmar where residents in need have taken to displaying yellow flags.
Myanmar Now today reported that scores of residents in Yangon have been flying yellow flags to signify the need for medical supplies as many of them remain under lockdown.
The yellow flag campaign is believed to have started two days ago, taking off online.
A yellow flag and a white flag flown together signifies that the occupants are not only in need of medicine, but also food.
Weeks ago, a white flag campaign to source basic necessities took off in neighbouring Malaysia and is still being used by people in need, especially as the country continues to be under a lockdown which began on June 1.
Myanmar Now also reported that yellow flags were spotted in apartments in South Okkalapa, Tamwe, Hlaing, Mayangone, Shwepyitha, Thaketa and Hlaing Tharyar townships .
Thida, a 48-year-old who lives in South Okkalapa’s ninth ward, was quoted as saying that she needed help as her 54-year-old husband and 14-year-old daughter were suffering from a fever, cough, loss of smell and hypoxia.
“We only have three people in our family. We had to ask for help as we all caught Covid-19,” she said, adding that she received some donations after raising the flag.
A man from Myittar Nyunt ward in Tamwe said his father is in need of oxygen supply after contracting Covid-19.
“We can’t run out of oxygen as he’s in constant need of it. As I’m only recovering now, I can’t do much for him either. That’s why I had to ask for help,” he said, adding that the family needs food and medicine too.
In response to the campaign, the Bahan Youth Volunteers started an effort to provide food and medicine to Covid-19 patients in Bahan and the surrounding townships.
“Because we’re all still students, we save up as much as we can and combine our savings with some donations to run this programme,” a representative of the volunteer team was quoted as saying.
It has been estimated that 600 are dying of Covid-19 daily in Yangon, a claim contradicting the junta government’s figures of 160 deaths a day on average.
On Monday, AFP reported that volunteers are going house-to-house to collect the fast-rising number of victims dying in their homes.
Hospitals around the country are empty of both doctors and patients because of a long-running strike against the military regime that seized power in February.
Widespread anger at the coup – and fear of being seen to cooperate with the regime – is also keeping many away from military-run hospitals, leaving volunteers to source precious oxygen and bring the dead for cremation.
Authorities reported almost 5,500 cases on Saturday, up from around 50 per day in early May, but analysts said the true toll is likely much higher.
Medical workers who were at the forefront of the Covid-19 response before the coup have been targeted after leading early mass protests against junta rule.
Top health officials, including the head of Myanmar’s vaccination drive, have been detained, and hundreds of others have gone underground to avoid arrest.
Last week, the State Administration Council – as the junta dubs itself – called for doctors and nurses to volunteer for the Covid-19 effort, admitting it is facing “difficulties” in controlling the surge.
State media reported on Saturday that authorities are rushing in oxygen supplies from neighbouring Thailand and China.
The United Nation’s special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar had last week warned that the country is at risk of “becoming a Covid-19 super-spreader state”. – The Vibes, July 22, 2021
