More than 2,000 Cambodian migrants have returned back to their home country via Chong Chom border crossing in Surin due to the closure of worker camps.
Many workers have chosen to go back home after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on June 28 ordered the closure of camp sites across Bangkok as a measure to curb Covid-19 transmission in the capital and its surrounding provinces as well as the four southern provinces.
A restriction on inter-provincial travel was also imposed last Saturday in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon.
The stricter measures on workers have led to the daily withdrawal of about 100-150 migrant workers, who live outside the travel restricted zones, back to their home country.
Since the suspension of camp sites, more than 2,000 Cambodian migrants have crossed the border at Chong Chom border checkpoint. Among them, 239 migrant workers were found to be infected with Covid-19 by the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Health Department of Cambodia on Sunday.
Surin Immigration Office has intensified preventive measures against Covid-19 by allocating a specific area for Cambodian migrant workers, where officers will screen for the virus and disinfect their belongings.
The office asked all employers to bring their migrant workers to the designated area only, so as to separate migrant workers from other visitors. The workers will not be allowed to leave the area.
They will be then escorted to vehicles, including trucks and buses.
Meanwhile, 189 infected workers were reported in a new Covid-19 cluster at a worker camp site in Phanom Sarakham district of Chachoengsao.
District chief Pinthira Kengkanpanit said the camp site was set up as a field hospital to treat 184 migrant workers, while another five Thais were admitted to hospitals.
The camp site was located in Moo 9 of tambon Koh Khanun and housed workers of a recycling company. About 500 migrants stayed around the area, so mass testing would be expedited to examine 300 others, she said.
Yesterday, 339 new cases were recorded in Chachoengsao, bringing the total to 4,412.