Covid-19 from Tachilek found in 7 Thai provinces - The Nation

Covid-19 from Tachilek found in 7 Thai provinces

Covid-19 cases from Myanmar's Tachilek city have been found in seven Thai provinces, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) reported on Wednesday.

The first case was discovered on November 28, said DDC director general Opas Karnkawinpong, after Thais working in Tachilek began sneaking back over the border into Chiang Rai to escape a serious outbreak in Myanmar.

However, since December 6 new infections from Tachilek have been contained in Chiang Rai province, he added.

Tachilek-related confirmed cases now totalled 46, including two local infections.

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More than 5,100 contacts of infected returnees have been tested in Chiang Rai, but only one was found to be infected.

Meanwhile, 55 close contacts of a Sing Buri woman who caught Covid-19 while taking the same flight as Tachilek returnees have all tested negative, according to Dr Sophon Iamsirithaworn, director of the Communicable Diseases Division.

Security camera footage from Chiang Rai airport shows the woman, 51, sitting close to two illegal returnees who are not wearing their masks correctly.

Elsewhere, five health workers in alternative state quarantine (ASQ) contracted Covid-19 after one of them took the temperature of a family of three in ASQ on November 24-27, said Sophon. The family was later found to be infected. The health workers eat together after work and share the same room. Their close contacts have been traced and tested. Among them are 226 workers at a private hospital (224 have tested negative while two are waiting for results), 6 co-workers (all negative), 7 at a government hospital (all negative), 14 in the first ASQ (negative), 20 in the second ASQ (negative), and 7 family members (negative).