Coronavirus: Myanmar braces for surge in cases after migrant worker exodus from Thailand

The health minister warned that the 23,000 migrant workers who returned from Thailand may trigger a massive outbreak

He called for strict monitoring of the returnees as preparation to deal with the possible spike in infections

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Volunteers disinfect a street as a preventive measure against the coronavirus in Yangon. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:43pm, 30 Mar 2020Updated: 10:09pm, 30 Mar 2020

Myanmar’s health minister has urged the public to brace for a “big outbreak” of the new coronavirus, saying that migrant workers who returned from neighbouring Thailand in large numbers may set it off.

Myint Htwe’s warning in a statement issued around midnight Sunday comes as Myanmar reported earlier in the day two more cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, bringing the country’s total to 10 cases within a week since the first case was reported.

The minister said more than 23,000 migrant workers returned officially across the Thailand-Myanmar border during a 10-day period through Saturday.

As they have already spread out across the country and some of them could have been infected with the virus, Myanmar is “highly likely” to have a “big outbreak,” the minister said.

One of the two who were confirmed infected with the virus on Sunday was a migrant worker who returned from Thailand last Monday, while most of the other cases confirmed so far were travellers who flew in from Western countries.

The minister called for strict monitoring of and movement restrictions on the returnees as preparation to deal with the possible outbreak.

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