BANGKOK, Sept 22 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health said, it will deploy 1.2 million public health volunteers across the country, to stem and prepare for a possible second wave of COVID-19.
The move came after reports of continuous illegal crossings of migrant workers into the Thai soil from Myanmar.
Thailand imposed stringent measures, including sealing all borders with Myanmar, as the latter is experiencing a huge surge in infections.
The Thai health authorities said, the deployment of health volunteers is necessary across the country, as anti-government protestor clusters spread across the country, in defiance of the state of emergency.
“However, we are more worried about illegal migrants sneaking into Thai soil rather than the Thai protestors’ clusters,” said Thanitpol Jayanandana, adviser to the Ministry of Public Health.
Thanitpol said, the risks of imported infections are concerting, adding that, local infections are rare, with only one local case in 100 days. “We are concerned especially in the lower northern province of Tak,” he said.
Tak province shares a 560-km border with Myanmar, with most of the natural border area porous jungles, an easy escape for Myanmar nationals into Thailand.
Thanitpol also said, the health volunteers recruited to combat COVID-19 are qualified, as they have had experience in combatting mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever and malaria.
“These volunteers are important to our efforts, as they already know how to prevent diseases and monitor health in these border communities,” Thanitpol said, before stressing the fact that Tak province has yet to discover any new local infection yet, despite the surge in cases in Myanmar.
“There are currently two confirmed cases in Myawaddy in Myanmar, very close to Thailand. If the situation gets out of control, we are at high risk,” he said.
Thanitpol said, all hospitals in the area have been told to be ready for an outbreak, saying, supplies of both equipment and medicine are adequate.– NNN-TNA
