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Migrant workers wait in line to take samples for COVID-19 tests in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, on Dec. 20 – Photo: Reuters
Newspaper Bangkok daily On December 23, the headline was posted: “New Year’s Threats from COVID-19 Fear.”
Blaming a COVID-19 outbreak linked to a major seafood market in Samut Sakhon province on migrant workers hired in the shrimp industry, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on December 22. he will meet with a working group this week to discuss the adoption of “additional rules that can be adapted to the evolution of the situation.”
He noted that strict measures could be taken, including a ban on New Year’s events.
This outbreak is important to help remember how serious the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be for our country.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on December 22
Immigration error?
Thailand was on high alert since December 17 when a 67-year-old shrimp seller from the Mahachai market in Samut Sakhon province tested positive for COVID-19. Comprehensive testing and traceability have helped detect more than 1,000 positive cases related to this site.
This is a major outbreak when the country previously recorded only about 4,000 cases over several months. Most of the new infections come from workers in Myanmar. They work in shrimp boats and processing factories related to Thailand’s billion dollar fishing industry.
On December 22, health officials recorded 427 new cases, including 397 cases of migrant workers from Myanmar in Samut Sakhon province, 16 cases of local infection related to markets, and 14 “imported” cases. . Of these, 16 are from 8 different provinces in Thailand, including 5 in Bangkok.
Authorities have also urged about 1,000 people to come forward. They come from a quarter of Thailand’s provinces and have been to the aforementioned seafood market this month. Today many places are concerned about being affected. Newspaper Bangkok daily on December 23, the news: “Samut Sakhon outbreak has reached Phuket.”
Prime Minister Prayut said the factories hired illegal immigrant workers. These people are accused of illegally crossing the border between Myanmar and Thailand.
“I told the authorities that there must be a system to help track the workers,” Prayut said, expecting the epidemic to improve in a week.
The Thai leader said on December 22: “This outbreak in Samut Sakhon is mainly caused by illegal immigrants. They have brought many problems to this country.”
However, Min Min Tun, a shrimp transporter from Myanmar, said that Thailand’s blaming Myanmar workers without evidence is “unfair and biased,” according to the AFP news agency.
Shock after months
The Mahachai market and surrounding areas were frozen on December 19, with some 4,000 people in quarantine. Earlier this week, authorities surrounded the market with barbed wire and distributed food to quarantined workers inside.
Varunthorn Mathiprechakul, the owner of a shrimp stand, said he wanted to know the situation of his 26 Myanmar employees in quarantine.
“I’m not sure the authorities provide enough food for them. I never thought the epidemic would break out because Thailand hasn’t had more cases in months. I’m still in shock and I don’t know what to do.” – Varunthorn shared with Reuters News.
Thailand shares a border with Myanmar some 2,400 km long. The COVID-19 epidemic in Myanmar has been severe since August, with the country still registering around 1,000 new infections a day. On December 23, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar (more than 117,900) than in Thailand (more than 5,700) was more than 20 times higher.
Thailand’s economy relies heavily on low-income workers from Myanmar and Cambodia. They play an important role in the manufacturing, construction, service and seafood sectors of the country of the Golden Temple.
However, according to the AFP news agency, the migrant workforce faces discrimination in Thailand. The latest outbreak has sparked a wave of Burmese discrimination among Thais.
One billion
The president of the Chamber of Commerce of Samut Sakhon province, Ms Amphai Harnkraiwilai, said that the blockade applied in Samut Sakhon due to the new outbreak will cause economic damage to the province in around 1 billion baht (about 766 thousand millions). day.
He said the province’s fishing industry, with sales of 400 to 500 million baht a day, and related business activities are now being forced to stop due to the lockdown. Many commercial and state banks have also announced the closure of branches in Samut Sakhon province.
Lessons to stop the new wave
New outbreaks of epidemics in previously well-controlled countries such as Thailand and South Korea indicate the need to remain vigilant with COVID-19 at all times, especially when the COVID-19 vaccine is not yet widely vaccinated. spread in Global.
“The important lesson is that if the problem is not solved globally, there is always the possibility of person-to-person transmission,” said Nicholas Thomas, associate professor of medical safety at Urban University. Hong Kong, he noted in Bloomberg News on Dec. 22. “The risk is that as the number of cases decreases and countries seek to reopen borders, either in the open air or in the form of a tourist bubble, the places that are left without translation will be exposed again,” he explained.
