The parents of a two-year-old Myanmar girl found infected with COVID-19 after returning home from Thailand had worked in the provinces of Ayutthaya and Nakhon Ratchasima.
Disease control measures were already underway among people they had been in contact with, Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Department of Disease Control (DDC), said yesterday.
Provincial health officials had reported that the girl’s parents had worked for a concrete block company in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima from October last year, he said.
They had been registered as migrant workers in the province and had checkups at Pakchongnana Hospital before buying health insurance.
According to their Myanmar colleagues, the couple resigned from the company on 25th June and travelled by van to Ayutthaya for work on 26th August.
Local health officials learned that they had applied for work at a market in Uthai district.
The DDC and officials were implementing proper disease control measures, Dr Wattanayingcharoenchai said.
The mother and child returned to Myanmar through Mae Sot district, Tak, on 4th September. The girl’s infection was confirmed by a test in Myanmar on Sunday. A night curfew has been imposed in Myawaddy town, opposite Mae Sot.
It is believed they used one of about 50 uncontrolled natural border crossings, avoiding efforts to tighten controls to stop illegal migrants and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As part of measures to contain the disease, health officials collected samples from 2,635 Thais and foreigners in Mae Sot on 8th-9th September for testing. None tested positive for COVID-19.
