No lockdown for Chiang Mai

A Central Festival Chiang Mai worker receives a free Covid-19 test at a mobile unit. (Photo by the Public Relations office in Chiang Mai)
A Central Festival Chiang Mai worker receives a free Covid-19 test at a mobile unit. (Photo by the Public Relations office in Chiang Mai)

The Public Health Ministry has ruled out a lockdown in the province of Chiang Mai as a result of a coronavirus scare involving a Thai returnee from Myanmar.

"The ministry has been testing all those who came into contact with the patient and there has yet to be a positive result," Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control said.

"Widespread Covid-19 transmission is unlikely because people in Chiang Mai are still mostly wearing masks on a daily basis. The ministry will continue monitoring the situation for a further 14 days," he said.

Of the 328 people believed to have come into close contact with the 29-year-old Thai woman who worked in Myanmar who tested positive, 107 were at high risk of contagion. Of those, 65 have already seen negative test results returned.

Dr Opas asked people to remain calm and cautioned against "overreacting" after some schools announced their immediate temporary closure, and said all necessary precautions were being taken.

In Chiang Rai the public health chief gave details about how two young women aged 26 and 23, were able to illegally enter Mai Sai district from Tachileik in Myanmar after dark on Thursday night.

Both worked at the same entertainment venue as the 29-year-old woman who tested positive in Chiang Mai.

All three had gone to work in the Myanmar border town last month, but decided to return to Thailand after authorities imposed a midnight to 4am curfew to contain the local outbreak.

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Vocabulary

  • calm: peaceful and quiet; without anxiety - ใจเย็น,ไม่ตื่นเต้น, สงบ
  • caution: to warn; to tell someone about a danger or problem that they need to know about or avoid - เตือน
  • contact (noun): a situation in which people or things touch each other or come very close to each other - การสัมผัส
  • contagion: when something spreads or passes from person to person, so that more and more people are affected - การติดต่อ,การแพร่กระจาย
  • curfew: a law that does not allow people to go outside between a particular time in the evening and a particular time in the morning - กฎอัยการศึก คือห้ามออกนอกบ้านในยามวิกาล
  • monitor: to regularly check someone/something - จับตาดู เฝ้าระมัดระวัง
  • overreact: to react in an extreme way, especially in a frightened or angry way - มีปฏิกิริยารุนแรงเกินไป
  • precaution: an action taken to protect people or things against possible harm or trouble - การป้องกันไว้ก่อน
  • rule out: to stop considering something as a possibility - ประกาศว่าเป็นสิ่งที่เป็นไปไม่ได้
  • transmission: the spread of a disease from one person or animal to another - การแพร่เชื้อ
  • widespread: happening or existing in many places, or affecting many people - อย่างแพร่หลาย
  • yet to: not yet - ยังไม่ได้
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