The Ministry of Public Health is still worried about Covid-19 infections in Myanmar following predictions that the virus could reach the Thai-Myanmar border in the next two weeks.
The director of the Division of Communicable Diseases, Sophon Iamsirithavorn, said the Covid-19 situation in Myanmar was a great concern as the country was now reporting more than 100 cases per day in many cities.
The disease had started to spread from Rakhine state on the west coast to the central region, he said, and although Myanmar’s Covid-19 hotspots were still far from Thailand, it was forecast that the virus would spread to the border areas in two weeks’ time. Dr Sophon said stringent measures had already been put in place along the border.
Col Akekapong Krittayakiatchuti, Commander of the 12th Ranger Forces Regiment Control Group, on Monday led a team of officers to at-risk patrol areas along the Thai-Cambodia borders in Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaeo, including the famous Rong Kluea Market, in an effort to prevent Covid-19 entering Thailand.
Three Cambodian men were arrested while crawling under razor wire fences from Poipet in Cambodia and all were immediately screened for the virus.
They admitted trying to sneak into Thailand to sell goods at the market, saying they used to be stall vendors there but the pandemic had prevented them from reentering Thailand for more than four months.
