Thailand tracking 200 people as infected returnees skip COVID-19 quarantine

 

FILE PHOTO: Medical personnel perform a nose swab test on a local resident of a community in Bangkok, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Thailand, April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand was racing to track down about 200 people in its northern provinces on Monday to stop a potential coronavirus outbreak, after three Thai nationals entered the country illegally from Myanmar and tested positive days later.

 

Three women bypassed immigration checks and entered via natural border crossings last Tuesday and Friday, skipping the mandatory quarantine for new arrivals, Chiang Rai provincial governor Prachon Pratsakul said.

 

There were 356 people in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces potentially exposed, among them staff and customers of a hotel, shopping mall, cinema, restaurants and passengers in a van and taxi, Prachon told a news conference.

 

Thailand has strict measures and border controls to keep the coronavirus at bay having kept its cases to less than 4,000 and deaths at 60, although its tourism-reliant economy has suffered badly.

 

Most infections in recent months have been imported and found in government quarantine, with only a handful of community-transmitted cases reported, which each saw massive contact-tracing efforts launched.

 

So far more than 150 people in the northern provinces have been found and tested negative, senior health official Sopon Iamsirithaworn said in a separate news conference.

 

The first of the three new cases arrived on Nov. 24 in Chiang Rai and travelled to Chiang Mai, where she later showed coronavirus symptoms and went to hospital.

 

Two others who worked in the same entertainment venue in Myanmar returned on Friday. They stayed at a local hotel and later sought COVID-19 tests, which were positive.

 

Myanmar is currently seeing an average 1,447 new coronavirus cases each day, with nearly 88,000 infections and 1,887 deaths overall.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-30

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Looks like the contacts with the 3 have travelled themselves and the list of contacts will be growing as well.  Maybe they will report nothing to see, or maybe they will use this as a way to lockdown the provinces again.  Anything can happen I guess, but it can also just stay the same.

3 women dodged mandatory quaranten.... how many have done exactly the same thing, not getting caught...? 

11 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

3 women dodged mandatory quaranten.... how many have done exactly the same thing, not getting caught...? 

I live near the border i would imagine Lots!!

Galvanized into some testing how much will that cost ya ???? 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Three women bypassed immigration checks and entered via natural border crossings last Tuesday and Friday, skipping the mandatory quarantine for new arrivals

Followed by:

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand has strict measures and border controls to keep the coronavirus at bay

 

you can bet your ass that by now they have been in contact with many people...this coupled with Thailand not doing any testing of people already in country...get ready for the spread....

6 hours ago, poohy said:

I live near the border i would imagine Lots!!

 

If you are aware of that the border is porous and people are just shuffling through unchecked - then why aren't Thai authorities ? 

I also live near the border. It's jungle, what do you suggest Ms Seeker, Agent Orange?

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 20205 yr by NilSS

This is why Thailand has to have strict quarantine.  It is not the dirty farangs who are bringing in the infections, it is Thais who will not follow basic common sense and isolate in quarantine unless forced to do so.  

UK allowed residents back in but insisted on 14 day quarantine in their own homes.  Since most followed the rules, no great surge in infections. 

Thailand is suffering from restrictions because the government knows that Thais cannot be trusted to quarantine unless forced into isolation.  Who to blame?

Funny you need high levels of insurance to enter Thailand to protect you from lack of thai immigration controls

4 hours ago, Robin said:

This is why Thailand has to have strict quarantine.  It is not the dirty farangs who are bringing in the infections, it is Thais who will not follow basic common sense and isolate in quarantine unless forced to do so.  

UK allowed residents back in but insisted on 14 day quarantine in their own homes.  Since most followed the rules, no great surge in infections. 

Thailand is suffering from restrictions because the government knows that Thais cannot be trusted to quarantine unless forced into isolation.  Who to blame?

It's not just Thais.  Burmese cross the border daily all up and down the country.  I heard warnings about this months ago when in Koh Samui.  So they are well aware of the dangers.  But how do you monitor the 2,500 KM border?  Most of which is jungle and mountains with no proper roads, just paths.  And the virus is raging in Myanmar.

 

Not an easy job.

15 hours ago, webfact said:

after three Thai nationals entered the country illegally

HUH!  Thanks Thais

15 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

3 women dodged mandatory quaranten.... how many have done exactly the same thing, not getting caught...? 

3000

You can not stop the porous borders and you can not detect covid if not testing randomly. It is here but no one seems to think much until a case is thrown in their face.  GF's mother has been sick for 3 weeks in a hill tribe location in Myanmar. 3 hours to the closest hospital. Finally went on Sunday by car, rough ride and lo and behold she has covid. Local clinic said to just take paracetamol and rest. Not getting better my GF paid someone to drive her.  Many are sick but no one there is doing much about it either. 

 

So yes it will come across the border. But for this government to say not one of the contacts tested positive is pure BS.

Edited December 1, 20205 yr by ThailandRyan

15 hours ago, webfact said:

There were 356 people in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces potentially exposed, among them staff and customers of a hotel, shopping mall, cinema, restaurants and passengers in a van and taxi,

It always starts small , just a few persons infected ... remember Wuhan ...?

The chinese got it under control by locking down the whole region .

If it spreads more in the north , Thailand might do the same ... CM and CR region all locked down for a while ...

If you live there , better stock up ...?

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand tracking 200 people as infected returnees skip COVID-19 quarantine

 

FILE PHOTO: Medical personnel perform a nose swab test on a local resident of a community in Bangkok, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Thailand, April 28, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand was racing to track down about 200 people in its northern provinces on Monday to stop a potential coronavirus outbreak, after three Thai nationals entered the country illegally from Myanmar and tested positive days later.

 

Three women bypassed immigration checks and entered via natural border crossings last Tuesday and Friday, skipping the mandatory quarantine for new arrivals, Chiang Rai provincial governor Prachon Pratsakul said.

 

There were 356 people in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai provinces potentially exposed, among them staff and customers of a hotel, shopping mall, cinema, restaurants and passengers in a van and taxi, Prachon told a news conference.

 

Thailand has strict measures and border controls to keep the coronavirus at bay having kept its cases to less than 4,000 and deaths at 60, although its tourism-reliant economy has suffered badly.

 

Most infections in recent months have been imported and found in government quarantine, with only a handful of community-transmitted cases reported, which each saw massive contact-tracing efforts launched.

 

So far more than 150 people in the northern provinces have been found and tested negative, senior health official Sopon Iamsirithaworn said in a separate news conference.

 

The first of the three new cases arrived on Nov. 24 in Chiang Rai and travelled to Chiang Mai, where she later showed coronavirus symptoms and went to hospital.

 

Two others who worked in the same entertainment venue in Myanmar returned on Friday. They stayed at a local hotel and later sought COVID-19 tests, which were positive.

 

Myanmar is currently seeing an average 1,447 new coronavirus cases each day, with nearly 88,000 infections and 1,887 deaths overall.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-30

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

That sums it up..

borders are porous.. expect so with such long borders of dense forest. If some borders crossers were identified, there should be many more yet to be identified but done the deed.

 

asq scores 1billion baht + from quarantine business, all of which comes from international air travelers. 
 

who has benefited from all this bru ha ha..

 

 

4 minutes ago, mjakob007 said:

borders are porous

 

These ladies did post their crossing on FB, with photos and the victory sign. They had 26" rollaboards in hand, looked manageable.

 

Suspect there are just a few paths used by 95%, should be easy for the Border Police to monitor, unless they're off in Bangkok dealing with school children protesting?

 

 

So why aren't they Deported ?

Just now, mberbae said:

So why aren't they Deported ?

They’re Thai aren’t they? Article mentions returnees.

Just wondering if they all get a jail time after quarantine?

8 minutes ago, mberbae said:

So why aren't they Deported ?

 

To where? Pattaya?

 

 

Was in Chiang Rai from 18th to 24th November, we stayed in one of the larger hotels and there was zero enforcement of social distancing. People milled around the breakfast buffet, barged into the lifts, all without wearing a mask. Only a few tourist attraction were showing some enforcement, like the white temple and then only when entering the main shrine.

 

And yet CR is the obvious entry point of COVID into Thailand.

I pray for Thailand because I live here, The general should do the same, the money milkers can go to hell, that should cover it

I have to think of the recent two day fireworks festival in Pattaya. There were thousands of people (some say up to one 100k) and no social distancing at all (people were sitting and standing next to each other) and very many people were without masks. Now I imagine there was one person with Covid. What will happen then? Track all of the many visitors? Put all of them into quarantine? 

There IS no social distancing happening in Thailand.

 

Thailand's anti-covid measures only include border control by air and some land points, and masks. Thats it.

 

Anyone tuned into anything happening on the entertainment front in Thailand will know that there have been enormous concerts happening with no masks and no distancing - huge numbers in the tens of thousands.

Covid just isn't  here.

 

But....

 

However - if these new cases are traceable, there could well be a second wave....

 

It would incredible if Thailand managed to keep the cases of covid so low until a vaccine arrived....

6 minutes ago, eeworldwide said:

There IS no social distancing happening in Thailand.

 

Thailand's anti-covid measures only include border control by air and some land points, and masks. Thats it.

 

Anyone tuned into anything happening on the entertainment front in Thailand will know that there have been enormous concerts happening with no masks and no distancing - huge numbers in the tens of thousands.

Covid just isn't  here.

 

But....

 

However - if these new cases are traceable, there could well be a second wave....

 

It would incredible if Thailand managed to keep the cases of covid so low until a vaccine arrived....

A second wave here. I wonder how many might die - perhaps fifty?

 

<For the hard-of-learning: The text above may contain traces of sarcasm>

16 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

3 women dodged mandatory quaranten.... how many have done exactly the same thing, not getting caught...? 

 

How many mysterious clusters of unknown origin have sprung up anywhere in Thailand?

What  most  farangs don't  know (because they  never looked) is that  it  is extremely  easy  to  get  in  and out  of Thailand without  papers or controls by  using 'natural' borders. For example, every  day just  upstream of the Friendship Bridge in  Nong  Khai people  are rowing  back  and forth across the Meekong at  night. Not necessarily illegal em/immigration, but contraband tobacco which is grown here in  vast  quantities and other products. There are also  many 'natural' land crossing  points -  there is no  Berlin  Wall  or death  strip  here between the neighbouring  countries.

16 hours ago, poohy said:

I live near the border i would imagine Lots!!

That's what is called a vivid imagination.