Health workers from the Muse hospital have joined a nationwide civil disobedience movement, refusing to go back to work until the military government, which staged a coup a week ago, reinstates the democratic government.

“We don’t want to work under the military dictatorship,” said a female medical doctor participating in the civil disobedience movement.

Although, the hospital in Muse, located in northern Shan State along the the border with China, has officially closed, doctors have pledged to care for patients for free in private clinics.

Staff from hospitals across the country have walked off the job, while many employees who continue working are wearing red ribbons to show their solidarity.

In a statement condemning the coup, the doctors in Muse said they understand that during the pandemic their services are more important than ever but under the military dictatorship “the health system will get even worse” and they can’t allow this to happen again. “We are participating in a civil disobedience movement against the military coup for the future of the next generation.”

Doctors also called for the Tatmadaw—as the Burma Army are locally called—to release State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and the other parliamentarians still being detained.

Many government servants and workers in Burma have joined the civil disobedience campaign and the general strike, which started this Sunday, February 7.