Virus puts strain on Yangon

Do not pass: A man in Yangon walking past a barrier blocking access to minor roads next to a sign urging residents to stay home. — AFP

YANGON has rapidly built new quarantine centres as it scrambles to contain the commercial hub’s first significant Covid-19 outbreak, with overworked medical staff fearing thousands more cases to come.

The South-East Asian nation has one of the world’s most impoverished healthcare systems, but had until recently remained relatively unscathed by the pandemic.