On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 was a global pandemic. Neighbouring the world's two most populous countries, many feared the potential impacts to people in Myanmar with its limited public resources, health infrastructure and hospitals. Initially, there was some cautious optimism, as the country was able to avoid the high case-positive loads seen in nearby India, Indonesia and the Philippines. However, with its high levels of poverty and associated inequality, concerns about the economic repercussions of the global pandemic, as well as the impact of lockdown restrictions on ordinary people's livelihoods, soon became a more paramount concern.
Amidst the global health and economic crisis, Myanmar's people were gearing up for a general election, the second held since 2011 when the military junta begun to make space for a period of social and political change (Cheesman et al. 2014; Egreteau & Robinne 2015). While the country's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi campaigned on her unique ability to see the country through the pandemic as the ‘mother of the nation’, many people did not view the election or the government as playing a significant role in influencing their survival of the pandemic. The government's COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) was widely criticised for its inability to reach the most vulnerable households, especially those in rural areas and the large number of people who work in the informal sector (see Mi Chan 2020). And yet, despite these criticisms and ongoing concerns about the difficulties of holding an election in the midst of a global pandemic, more than seventy per cent of the population came out to vote. While more than ninety parties competed in the election, people overwhelmingly endorsed Suu Kyi and the NLD in a landslide victory that was even greater than 2015 (Lidauer & Saphy 2021).
Less than three months later, on the day that Suu Kyi and other parliamentarians were to take their seats for a second term of government, Myanmar's democratic process and era of reform was brought to an abrupt end by a military coup d’etat.