Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, Tatmadaw spokesperson, said the Chinese medical experts arrived in Yangon on April 24 as part of China’s assistance to Myanmar to fight the disease. 

“The group came to Myanmar for two weeks to help fight COVID-19 as a sign of the friendship between the two countries,” he said. “When the coronavirus spread in China, the Tatmadaw donated aid to China. Now that we are facing the threat, they came to help us.”

The Chinese experts shared their experience in fighting the disease in Wuhan city, Hubei province, where it originated in late 2019, with a focus on infection control management.

The Tatmadaw sent 40 medical workers to attend the training to help them perform their duties at the new Phaunggyi COVID-19 Medical Centre in Hlegu township, which is expected to be able to treat up to 2000 patients at a time.

The Tatmadaw has assigned 80 medical workers to Phaunggyi divided into two teams that take turns working two-week shifts.

So far, the Tatmadaw has one confirmed patient who is being treated at a military hospital Nay Pyi Taw.

On May 9, the Tatmadaw declared a partial ceasefire with ethnic armed groups until August 31 to boost cooperation with the groups in fighting the coronavirus. The truce did not include northern Rakhine State and Paletwa township in Chin State, where there has been intense fighting between the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups.

Meanwhile, the Tatmadaw said it has tested 175 MPs and 44 employees at parliament in preparation for the new session that begins May 18. All the tests were negative, it said.