Ministry of Health and Sports, Central Epidemiology Unit, Deputy Director Dr. Khin Khin Gyi said that travellers coming from China would be allowed to enter Myanmar only after filling up a “Health Card” at entry ports of Myanmar.

She said this to reporters after a “Coordination Meeting for Prevention and Elimination of Wuhan Coronavirus” held in Naypyitaw on January 24.

“We shall say to travellers coming from China by flight to fill up this Health Card with information on have they been in Wuhan? Are they suffering from respiratory tract diseases and syndrome? etc.,” she said.

The Health Ministry is reportedly discussing with the Transport and Communication Ministry in this regard.

Dr. Khin Khin Gyi elaborated that her ministry previously used this Health Card before but has stopped using this card after 2018 and also no case of infection of the coronavirus said to have originated in Wuhan has been reported so far.

Union Minister Dr. Myint Htwe said they were preparing to deal with people who had caught the virus, looking to Thailand to help.

“We cannot do anything for this disease here. We shall refer all these cases to Thailand and Thais will not charge us any penny for these patients. And WHO will pay for transportation costs for these infected people but we have not yet found any people infected with this virus so far so that we don’t need yet to transfer these cases,” Union Minister Dr. Myint Htwe said.

According to the information released by WHO on January 23, 584 people have contracted this virus, with 575 people from China. So far 17 people have died from the disease. All of these cases are in China.

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Passengers wearing face masks board their flight at Yangon International Airport on January 21, 2020. Photo: Mladen Antonov/AFP