Officials started conducting health checks of private cars and trucks using the Yangon-Mandalay highway on October 13 and requiring COVID-19-free certificates, according to the Highway Police.
"We are carrying out the instructions of the Yangon Region government. If the vehicles have COVID-19 clearance, we allow them to go on. If not, they are allowed to proceed only if they test negative. Those who test positive must be quarantined at a facility," an official said on October 13.
The Ministry of Construction allowed trucks to resume travel on the highway after paying a toll between October 5 and November 30.
The speed limit on the highway is 100 kilometres per hour for private vehicles, 80kph for buses, and 60kph for trucks, which must use only the right lane.
Truck drivers can rest only at specified rest stops and are not at roadside inns. If they fail to follow regulations or exceed their weight limit, they will be barred from the highway.
Yangon’s stay-at-home order started on September 20 and was extended for two weeks on October 8.
After the semi-lockdown, Yangon required 27 businesses to get a QR code from the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry for travel between townships until October 21. More than 100,000 vehicles registered for the code.
However, the federation announced October 12 that the code is no longer needed and stopped accepting registrations.
U Soe Myint, a trucker from Yangon, said, “The QR code wasn’t effective because there weren’t enough checkpoints and there were too many ways to move between townships. It is not easy to close all those ways. I like the new order that you can only use the highway if you are not infected. It isn’t good to have a strict lockdown, as many people are finding it difficult to earn money.” - Translated
