Chonburi, Thailand-
Prominent officials from the Department of Public Health and Department of Disease Control toured dormitories in Mueang Chonburi and Phan Thong yesterday, May 23rd, 2021.
These dormitories are mostly associated with the Amata Industrial Estate and house primarily migrant workers. As with many similar communities, the dormitories have hundreds of people that share facilities and live in densely packed situations, often with many people living in a single shared room.
Recently, both the Okamura Metal Factory and the Celeres company have had clusters of Covid-19 located on their premises which over the past several days have been the majority of Covid-19 infections in the province. According to officials from the Chonburi Department of Public Health the vast majority of cases are completely asymptomatic, driven by the fact that most migrant workers tend to be younger and healthier that work at these factories.
The tour of the dormitories was led by Dr. Wichai Thanasophon, the deputy public health doctor for Chonburi province. A major part of the tour was to set guidelines, rules, and regulations for members of the community to stop the virus from potentially spreading further. All related communities are currently under a “safe and sealed” operating platform, which essentially means workers are not allowed to leave, provided essential food and supplies, and must follow strict rules. All workers are being tested for Covid-19 on a regular basis, those that test positive are quarantined at field hospitals. In Thailand, even if asymptomatic, one must have medical supervision while positive for the disease, and home isolation is not officially allowed.
The rules include:
-No socializing outside of one’s direct household, even with your neighbors.
-Meals must be taken alone and inside one’s room or apartment, group meals, which are very common in Thailand, are currently forbidden.
-Strict social distancing must take place from people who are not direct household members, this includes not gathering in public areas, sitting outside or in front of one’s door to socialize with others, etc.
-All those who are “sick” (sick is considered testing positive, asymptomatic or not) must be separated to a field hospital/quarantine.
-No relatives, friends, etc. from other provinces and locations are allowed to visit.
-Regular proactive inspections will take place in the community by the Department of Public Health and health volunteers are assisting in ensuring the rules are followed in the dormitories, as well as making sure that all residents have all the food and supplies they need for the current period of quarantine/monitoring that is expected to last at least two weeks.
The Chonburi Governor has so far ordered the closure of two factories related to the current clusters in Mueang Chonburi which you can read about in related articles below. Many of the factory workers live in dormitories in Phan Thong.
All photos credit the Chonburi Department of Public Health
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