All district offices and local administration organizations in Thailand have been instructed to monitor the health of people who have completed their 14-day mandatory quarantine, to make sure they are clear of COVID-19 infection.

The instruction was issued by Interior Permanent Secretary Chatchai Promlert, after the Disease Control Department found that two Thai women, who had completed their 14-day quarantine and returned home, subsequently tested positive for COVID-19.

If those who return home from quarantine develop symptoms related to COVID-19, health officials must be alerted so that they can be treated.

The Disease Control Department insists, however, that the two Thai women are not new cases or regarded as locally acquired infections. It said that traces of the virus’s DNA were detected in the system of one of the women, not the virus itself, whereas the results of tests on the second woman are still pending.