Special transport has been arranged, by the state-run Transport Company, to take returning Thai workers from the airports their homes once they land from South Korea, as a precautionary measure to avoid close contact with other people during their 14-day mandatory home quarantine period.

Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob told a news conference Wednesday morning that involving the bus company is to ensure orderly travel from the airports for the returnees, who will have gone through a stringent screening process at arrival airport.

The minister said that the returning workers who will be allowed return home will have passed through three screenings, namely prior to boarding the flight from South Korea, at the arrival point in Thailand and the immigration checkpoint.

Returnees who are found to have a fever or other flu-like symptoms will be sent to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute immediately for further tests and any required treatment.

Once home, Interior Ministry or local officials, such as village heads or kamnan, will take charge of ensuring that the returnees strictly observe the 14-day home quarantine.

When asked why all the nearly 5,000 workers waiting to return home were not isolated in one location, Mr. Saksayam said that there is no facility available which is large enough to accommodate them.

Even if new hospitals could be built quickly, like in Chinese city of Wuhan, he said that there would not be enough medical personnel to man the new facilities.

He pleaded with the returning workers to comply strictly with the home quarantine for the sake of themselves and the public in general.