RFA Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, warned recently that a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases during a third wave of the pandemic, coupled with the public mistrust of the junta after its Feb. 1 coup d’état, had created “a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar.” There has been an “exponential increase” in cases of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian nation since the latest outbreak began in May, Andrews said in an interview with the Myanmar Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA). BenarNews is affiliated with RFA.