"Covid-19 lockdowns and internal travel restrictions have been lifted across Myanmar but that doesn’t mean its virus crisis is over – far from it. Myanmar has officially confirmed only 316 Covid-19 cases and six related deaths, figures that many observers doubt are an accurate portrayal of the nation’s underlying viral situation. But even if Myanmar’s Covid-19 figures are unrealistic, economic, social and political fallout from the health crisis is nearly certain. Myanmar’s economic growth is projected to drop from 6.8% in fiscal 2018-2019 to just 0.5% in 2019-2020, according to World Bank estimates released on June 25. That assessment, considering the impact of lockdowns on the nation’s already impoverished population, could understate the human suffering to come. Economic distress, meanwhile, is impacting politics as the country gears up for November 8 elections that will pit State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling New League for Democracy (NLD) against the rival military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The NLD is widely expected to win another five-year term, but observers in the commercial center Yangon wonder if military authorities will impose Covid-related restrictions on rallies and potentially use social controls to tilt the electoral playing field more in the USDP’s favor..."