Coronavirus: Myanmar’s former political prisoners share isolation survival tips

The country of 55 million is hunkering down, back in isolation sooner than many imagined possible after the end of outright military rule in 2011

There are fears the country’s health system will be easily overwhelmed as cases rise. It is thought to have fewer than 200 ventilators

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Young Buddhist monks wear face masks amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus in Yangon. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:30pm, 6 Apr 2020Updated: 10:41pm, 6 Apr 2020

From meditation to memory games, former political prisoners in Myanmar are dishing out tips on surviving isolation in a pandemic as the country once severed from the world again closes its borders.

The Southeast Asian state spent nearly half a century under a paranoid, secretive junta that violently suppressed dissent, jailed its critics and locked the country off as it drove the economy into ruin.

Pro-democracy activist Bo Kyi, 56, was one of thousands jailed, spending eight years behind bars in the 1990s.

His punishment included 12 months in solitary confinement in cell 2.5 metres wide by 3.5 metres long furnished with just a bowl for a toilet and a mat to sleep on.

Former political prisoner Bo Kyi talks about his experiences in this 2007 file photo. Photo: AFP

Last week he posted advice on Facebook about how to cope with isolation to his compatriots holed up at home, gripped by fears over the coronavirus in a country with a threadbare public health system.