Nine new Covid-19 cases have been found in Thailand’s northernmost Chiang Rai province linked to the 1G1-7 Hotel in the Myanmar border town of Tachileik, provincial officials said.

The hotel is widely purported to be a hotspot for transmission.

All nine were women aged 20-44 years, who had travelled through legal channels.

Chiang Rai administration officials held a press conference on December 6 regarding the Covid-19 situation in the province.

They said the nine women had travelled across the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge and entered the quarantine process as soon as they had returned to the country without being exposed to the community at all.

In total, there are 20 cases in Chiang Rai in the last two weeks, 14 of whom were found during quarantine in the state local quarantine facility, five had sneaked in through a natural channel, and one local was infected from a patient who had entered illegally.

Chiang Rai governor Prachon Pratsakul said the new cases were not unexpected, as they all worked and lived together. The province is still open to receiving Thai people who want to return, he said.

So far, 171 people have returned from Tachileik province and the positive cases are all admitted to Chiang Rai Prachanukerah Hospital.

He urged those who had sneaked in earlier to report to public health officials as soon as possible.

“I believe the situation can be controlled because most of the cases found in the state local quarantine have limited contact groups . . . After 14-25 days, Chiang Rai will be safe as a New Year 2021 gift to people and tourists who want to continue visiting,” said the governor.

The Nation (Thailand)/Asia News Network