Kanchanaburi closes 1 retailer, 1 factory over Covid fears

Kanchanaburi closes 1 retailer, 1 factory over Covid fears

A checkpoint at Ban Phu Nam Ron in Muang district of Kanchanburi has closed until the end of this month to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen)
A checkpoint at Ban Phu Nam Ron in Muang district of Kanchanburi has closed until the end of this month to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen)

KANCHANABURI: A Siam Global House branch and a famous frozen food factory have been ordered to close for two weeks from Wednesday amid fears the two places might spawn new coronavirus clusters.

Provincial governor Jeerakiat Phumsawad on Wednesday ordered the immediate closure of Siam Global House in Muang district and Srifa Frozen Foods Factory in Tha Muang district because of their proximity to local communities.

Neither the construction materials retailer nor the food plant -- along with the communities in their neighbourhoods -- have reported new infections, but the governor said the closure order was a pre-emptive move to prevent their emergence as new cluster zones in the province.

Despite relatively low coronavirus infection rates, Kanchanaburi is one of 29 provinces placed under lockdown, including a curfew, from Tuesday. The decision to designate the province as a dark-red zone was to help authorities stem the import of Covid-19 from Myanmar and prevent its spread in factories in the province.

Kanchanaburi has attempted to seal its border with Myanmar by shutting the permanent checkpoint at Ban Phu Nam Ron in Muang district and the temporary pass at the Three Pagodas Pass in Sangkhla Buri until the end of this month.

The western province has logged 4,556 transmissions, including 218 reported by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration on Wednesday, since the third wave of the pandemic began in April.

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