40 A NATION LEFT BEHIND oratory in Yangon, and the rate of testing is military, and their supporters is largely an at- 0.02 percent; at the time of reporting, around tempt at fostering popularity and legitimacy, 14,000 tests had been conducted in total in a both with the local population and in the eyes country of 54 million.116 That is why it is partic- of the international community. Domestical- ularly egregious that the Myanmar military re- ly, the authorities have attempted to portray mained silent about its own reserve of life-sav- themselves as the nation’s saviours, commit- ing medical facilities for more than one month ted to simultaneously controlling the external after COVID-19 was confirmed in the coun- threat of coronavirus while safeguarding the try. The military’s showcase of its leading role country from the internal threat of “terror- on the pandemic’s emergency response team ism.” The careful construction of a narrative while withholding testing equipment and oth- of “complicated contexts” and “limited ca- er facilities from public use is reflective of the pacity” allows international aid and invest- long-standing practice of ensuring its own se- ment to continue to flow into the country curity before that of the people. through the central Myanmar government The sanitized image constructed throughout this crisis by the NLD government, the and inevitably into the military’s coffers, now in the name of pandemic response. 116 MoHS. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Surveillance Dashboard (Myanmar).” Available at: https://doph. maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/f8fb4ccc3d2d42c7ab0590dbb3fc26b8/