Myanmar health officials said three people in Myawaddi Township, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot district in Tak province have been infected with the virus and are now being treated in hospital.
Thai health officials in the district, however, suspect that more people in Myawaddi might have already been infected, prompting security officials to tighten up border patrols, to prevent illegal border crossings arranged by human trafficking gangs, in order to stem the possible spread of COVID-19 into the country.
The Tak provincial administration has ordered long-tailed boat operators to bring their vessels on shore, to prevent them from being used by gangs to smuggle both Thai and Myanmar people into Thailand.
On Tuesday night, Thai security forces intercepted a pickup truck and arrested 19 Thai nationals, who reportedly had been working in casinos in Myawaddi since earlier this year, and who had decided to return to Thailand out of fear of catching COVID-19.
All of them reportedly hired traffickers to smuggle them across the Moei River into Tak province at night.
All were subjected to tests and taken into quarantine for observation for 14 days. So far, none of them have exhibited any symptoms.
