KANCHANABURI: One of the two Myanmar men who fell ill after illegally entering Thailand and staying in a village in Thong Pha Phum district has tested negative for Covid-19, provincial governor Jirakiat Phumsawat said.
The governor posted the news on his Facebook page, to alleviate the Covid-19 scare caused by the two illegal migrants.
The two young men, aged 20 and 17, slipped into Thailand on Aug 23 and stayed with a family in a house at Phulo village in tambon Lin Thin. Children also lived there.
On Aug 31, the two men and a one-year-old boy at the house where they stayed had a high fever and went to a tambon hospital at Ban Kui Yae. The three were suspected of having caught Covid-19 and were transferred to Thong Pha Phum Hospital for testing.
In the house, they also had close contact with three other boys, students at Kui Yae School. The school director on Monday closed the school for three days, to await the test results. The three students from the same house were ordered into 14-day isolation, and the school was thoroughly cleaned.
On Tuesday, about 6.30pm, Mr Jirakiat posted on his Facebook page that the 20-year-old Myanmar man and the year-old boy had tested negative for Covid-19. The result for the 17-year-old was expected on Wednesday.
The three-day closure of Kui Yae School was only a precaution against the virus spreading, he added.
Mr Jirakiat asked people not to be overly scared. He would announce the test result of the other Myanmar man.
On Wednesday morning, the governor also sent an urgent report to the Interior Ministry, updating it on the Covid-19 situation in the province.
Local residents said although security agencies were keeping a strict watch along the border, there were as many as 40 natural crossings and some foreigners still managed to sneak into Thailand. People were worried they would bring the virus with them from Myanmar, where an outbreak has been reported, mainly in Rakhine state in the west.
