The largest outbreak in the Thai seafood market has been of more than 1,000 cases.

People queue for the COVID-19 test in Samut Sakhon province on December 20 – Photo: YAKIMA HERALD

According to the AFP news agency, Thai authorities have been burning since Thursday last week (December 17) after a shrimp seller at the Mahachai seafood market tested positive for the corona virus.

Mahachai Market in Samut Sakhon province, about 40 minutes southwest of Bangkok.

As of December 22, there were 1,063 confirmed positive cases for the SARS-CoV-2 virus after 6,156 people were tested.

This is actually the largest outbreak so far in Thailand. As of December 22, Thailand had a total of 5,716 cases.

The vast majority of the newly identified cases were workers who migrated from Myanmar. They work on shrimp fishing boats and seafood processing factories linked to Thailand’s multi-billion dollar seafood industry.

According to Suthasinee Bik, coordinator of the Migrant Workers Rights Network (Migrant Workers Rights Network), isolated Myanmar workers feel anxious and stressed.

“They want people with the disease to be separated from others. It is a very crowded area,” Suthasinee Bik told the AFP news agency.

Myanmar has so far registered more than 115,000 cases of COVID-19. The country shares 2,400 km of border with Thailand.

The Governor of Samut Sakhon Province, Mr. Veerasak Vijitsaengsri, said that the COVID-19 infection rate related to seafood markets is now around 27.91%, but previously it was 40%. “We see light at the end of the tunnel,” Veerasak Vijitsaengsri told reporters.

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the government has yet to decide whether to implement blockade orders on a larger scale. Consequently, the “fate” of the New Year celebrations has not been decided.

“The prime minister will closely monitor the situation for a week. If it becomes more serious, it is necessary. We have to think about the bigger picture,” said Prawit Wongsuwan.