BANGKOK, Dec 13 (NNN-TNA) – A Thai health expert warned that COVID-19-infected returnees from Myanmar’s Tachilek township, are highly infectious by carrying the COVID-19 G strain.
The infected returnees carried the G strain of the virus, which is easily transmitted and causes more severe symptoms than other strains, said Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the disease control department, at the Ministry of Public Health.
So far, Thailand tested hundreds of people returned from Myanmar, 49 of them, who are in seven provinces, tested positive for COVID-19.
These cases include 37 in Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai, five in Chiang Mai, three in Bangkok and one each in Phayao, Phichit, Ratchaburi and Sing Buri.
They include nine among the 107 infected people who returned to Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Rai, under a joint arrangement by the Thai and Myanmar border authorities.
“The G-strain, which was originally identified in India, is widespread in Myanmar, but is now contained to limited areas in Thailand,” said Opas, adding that, 80 percent of COVID-19 cases globally are of the G-strain.
He said, there are 400 Thai nationals who remain stranded in Tachilek, waiting to return via the Chiang Rai border checkpoint.
According to the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), most of the stranded people, illegally crossed the border into Myanmar to work in entertainment and gambling venues there.
According to Myanmar law, they will be taken to court, to pay fines for illegal entry, before being repatriated.
The CCSA said that 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were recorded in Thailand. They include seven reported in people arriving from Bahrain and one each from Germany, Sweden, Britain, India and Kuwait.
Yesterday, Thailand’s total COVID-19 tally rose to 4,192, with 60 deaths. Of the cases, 1,204 are being held in state quarantine, and 217 being treated in hospitals. The total number of recoveries stands at 3,915.– NNN-TNA
