"Five weeks after confirming its first COVID-19 case on March 23, Myanmar has reported 151 confirmed cases and six deaths. The country’s largest city, Yangon, is the outbreak’s epicenter, though cases have been detected in other states and regions. Limited testing capacity and reports of people under investigation dying before being tested have fueled fears that Myanmar’s outbreak could be vastly under-reported. In spite of recent reforms and investments, Myanmar’s once-neglected health system under the Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) has limited surge capacity to rapidly test or treat critical cases beyond a moderate number. In early 2020, there were an estimated 600 critical care beds (including 180 ICU beds) across the entire country (roughly 1.1 bed per 100,000 people) while the World Health Organization reported that Myanmar had around 6.7 doctors and 10 registered nurses and midwives per 10,000 population in 2018. Emergency upgrades (such as the establishment of the 2,000-bed COVID-19 Medical Center Yangon at the repurposed Phaunggyi Civil Service Training Institute outside Yangon) and contributions from other ministries, volunteer organizations, and the private healthcare sector have boosted overall capacity. Due to its key focus in tackling communicable diseases, the MOHS has good capacity to conduct contact tracing while the mobilization of schools, meditation centers and madrassahs has provided good capacity for isolating suspected cases, and volunteer organizations have stepped up to assist low income groups. However, the health system remains at very real risk of being overwhelmed should cases grow exponentially..."