23 of 35 returnees test positive

[reader]

From The Irrawaddy

Myanmar Sees Largest COVID-19 Spike as Migrants Deported from Thailand Test Positive

ANGON—Twenty-three out of 35 Myanmar migrants who were deported from Thailand tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday in the country’s highest daily increase in coronavirus cases so far.

The 35 Myanmar migrants were held at the immigration detention center in the city of Songkhla in southern Thailand before being deported via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot border gate on June 8.

The migrants were detained under Thailand’s immigration acts for lacking proper documents. Four of them were arrested for entering Thailand illegally from Malaysia.

On Friday, the Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports announced that 23 of the returnees, including the four who had travelled to Malaysia, tested positive for COVID-19 while under quarantine in Hpa An Township, Karen State.

Around 2,000 returnees from Thailand have been quarantined at about 350 quarantine centers across Karen State.

As of Sunday, 27,505 migrants have returned to Myanmar through land borders from Thailand and thousands more have returned from China since May 23. Myanmar has also brought 3,762 Myanmar nationals stranded abroad by COVID-19 lockdowns home on repatriation flights since April 30.

As of Friday morning, Myanmar has reported 286 COVID-19 cases including six deaths and 187 recoveries. Of the 286 COVID-19 cases, 124 cases were imported from other countries.

[spoon]

This confirmed my concern regarding thailand not mass testing foreign workers as their neighbors do. And further strenghten the reason why thai gov hesitate to open the country even when they have no locally transmitted case for more than 20 days. If 23 out of 35 myanmar citizen tested positive after coming back from thailand, i wonder how many more of them who is in thailand still might be positive. 

[DivineMadman]

6 hours ago, spoon said:

This confirmed my concern regarding thailand not mass testing foreign workers as their neighbors do. And further strenghten the reason why thai gov hesitate to open the country even when they have no locally transmitted case for more than 20 days. If 23 out of 35 myanmar citizen tested positive after coming back from thailand, i wonder how many more of them who is in thailand still might be positive. 

Definitely mass testing would be nice.  

Remember, these individuals were in a detention center by the Malaysian border.  Also note that 4 of them had come from Malaysia - ahem (not pointing finger).

I absolutely agree more testing would be nice.  The other day Thai press spokesman addressed the general question of mass testing.  I forget all of the response, but I think the points he made were (1) they conduct rigorous contract tracing, and that is generally regarded as the more effective method and (2) the 1,000,000 person localized health volunteer brigade that blankets the country is credited with a lot of success of getting people educated and catching cases early before they spread, including the immigrant community.  

He also addressed the question of significant undiagnosed cases.  His answer was that there hasn't been an uptick in otherwise unaccounted for deaths Thailand, unlike other countries where the likely answer is the increase in deaths is likely from COVID-19.

I know that some of the NGOs are out there testing, which is great.  SWING will test sex workers and is offering that testing as part of its outreach in BKK and Pattaya.  Duang Prateep has been actively testing in the Klong Toey slum.

But again, mass testing would be nice.  I am not disputing that.

[spoon]

I know and already mentioned issues regarding covid19 spread amingst foreign workers is happening both in malaysia and singapore, hence the mass testing done to most foreign workers in both countries. Those registered foreign workers are traceable but ubfortunately, the illegal ones are not easy to trace. The condition of their housing, often in dormitories where 10-20 of them in one big rooms are one of few reason that a breakout within foreign workers is rampant. That is also true in detention centers for illegals, where malaysia's most recent return to the 3 digits daily cases were attributed to, and as a result, all detainees in 20 plus detention center nationwide undergone mass testing. 

Its a white elephant in the room that thai gov choose to ignore, and i guess since its from the southern region, and not near the center where most of the population resides, its seems not a priority. The argument about increase of unaccounted death are also dubious at best as most of the foreign workers are young and fit, so their death rate are much lower in the first place, and if you dont test the dead for covid, you wouldnt find out if the dead is due to covid or not. This also explain the low death rate for singapore and malaysia as well despite higher number of cases. That doesnt stop the young foreign workers who are positive from spreading the virus though. I guess since the south isnt as densely populated and i believe most foreign workers in the south work in plantation or fishery where they arent living amongst the thai population, it is still contained. 

I dont blame thai gov for not pursuing mass testing, especially foreign national, as it is not cheap, but not doing so might hide the reality and also hinder their decision to open up economy. They are doing the right thing to be cautious though and i believe this does contribute to why they are very hesitant to open up border and allow more foreigners to come in (which includes more foreign workers as well). I do believe the gov are aware of this hence they are delaying the opening of borders. 

[DivineMadman]

 

26 minutes ago, spoon said:

Its a white elephant in the room that thai gov choose to ignore

I think they might say they are not ignoring it.  It's just they've adopted the track-and-trace model.  I have absolutely no doubt cases are being missed.  

At a recent Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand discussion a Thai individual on the panel said the problem with Thailand was there were too many elephants in the room, but she was referring to something else, I think.  hahaha.

[reader]

I think one of those elephants was the wink-wink, nod-nod agreement between Cambodia and Thailand that the Cambodian construction workers would be allowed to remain in Thailand during the pandemic. Thai authorities considered them essential workers necessary to keep  that sector of the economy humming. Everybody knew the conditions they work under and the crowded dormitories they live in--conditions ripe for the spread of any communicable disease.

And this was happening at a time when the government was sending people home from offices because of the fear that it would spread in the business community. What was good for the goose was certainly not good for the gander.

At least Singapore acknowledged its migrant worker problem and accepted responsibility for trying to tame the problem.   To this day it continues to identify new cases among foreign workers. I don't recall any reports out of the LOS about Covid-19 among the Cambodians.

So it seems that the construction industry was business as usual at the same time the hospitality, retail and transportation sectors ground to a stop.

 

 

 

[DivineMadman]

One question then is are there hot spots among the immigrant community that have developed and been unnoticed, noticed and deliberately ignored or have not "bled" out into the general public.  Those would just be the questions that would need to be answered.

There's a little bit of damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't going on here.  At the time when things were closing down there were a lot of people being quite vocal that the worst thing to do to the provinces or the neighboring countries would be to shut down and send people home.  The fear at the time being that it would spread the virus to places such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, even less able to deal with it.  If you're looking for a non-malicious motive, perhaps that's a potential path forward.  

As I keep saying, this stuff is complicated.

[reader]

I'm looking for neither malicious or non-malicious motives. But if you see malicious intent among those who agreed to the decision, I won't blame you for that.

Everything is more complicated today because of the virus.

But I don't think it's unreasonable to wonder why--complicated or not--migrant workers were left susceptible to contracting a deadly disease.

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, reader said:

So it seems that the construction industry was business as usual at the same time the hospitality, retail and transportation sectors ground to a stop.

 

it's not odd, the same happened  where I live. It looks different governments are taking different approaches, all  while virus is still in charge.

But it's hard to blame anybody, all they   can do is to try and see what works

[DivineMadman]

Here's a transcript of an entirely made up meeting at the Thai government in mid- to late-March:

Somchai (Junior Official)  

"Boss, I have a great idea,  I know the Cambodian government is asking us to keep workers here, rather than send them back where they won't have work.  And they're worried about sending people back across the borders with COVID-19 now.  And the workers say they would rather be here.

Boss

"Ah, Somchai, of course they would rather be here.  Thailand is envy of the world.

Somchai

"Indeed, Boss.

"And, Boss, I know people are worried about shutting down the economy.

Boss

"And rightly so, Somchai.  The Thai economy is the envy of the world.  

Somchai

"Of course, Boss.

"So I was thinking about the construction industry and the migrant workers from Cambodia who work in the construction industry.  What if we let them stay in Thailand and keep some construction going.

Boss

"Hmmmm.  But Somchai, why can't we say the same thing and keep the malls open?  That will make my mistress -- I mean my wife -- very happy.

Somchai

Oh, but there's a difference, Boss.  The construction workers live together, go to work together, stay on the construction site, and go home together.  The malls are the opposite.  People come from different places, then mix, and then disperse.  So that would be very different for the spread of the disease.

Boss

"Ah yes, Somchai.  And after all, our malls are the envy of the world.

Somchai

"As you say, Boss.

Boss

"But Somchai, the benevolence of the Thai people is the envy of the world.  Won't we seem heartless having our Cambodian cousins working in a global pandemic.  What if they get sick?

Smooch

"But Boss, don't forget, documented migrant workers are eligible for our universal health care system.  Even undocumented migrant workers are eligible.  Not everyone takes advantage, but we conduct active outreach and try to enroll as many as we can, and the Thai universal health care system is there for them if they need it just like the rest of us.

Boss

"Of course, Somchai, you are correct.  I didn't forget that.  I was just testing you.  

"The way Thailand has expanded universal health coverage to documented and undocumented migrant workers is the envy of the world.

Somchai

"As you say, Boss."

Boss

"Well, Somchai, I think I have laid out my brilliant plan to you.  You may circulate it among the ministries.  

"This is the sort of win-win thinking that will only earn respect for our Kingdom!

Somchai

"Yeah, sure, Boss. 

 

[reader]

Now that is funny.

But surprising that neither Somchai or the boss thought about asking the workers how they felt about it.

On second thought, maybe not surprising at all.

 

[DivineMadman]

12 minutes ago, reader said:

Now that is funny.

But surprising that neither Somchai or the boss thought about asking the workers how they felt about it.

On second thought, maybe not surprising at all.

 

Actually, Somchai reports that the workers say they would rather be there in his first quote.  

Does anyone really doubt they would rather be working?  All of the guys I am contact with or follow on Facebook say they would rather be working.  

 

[reader]

Somehow I don't see Somchai hustling down to Silom at 10p.m. to poll the Cambodians running for the bus to take them back to the dorms. And since this is a work of fiction, I'm just lending a bit of literary criticism.

And if it were true it would make the whole yarn seem like an excuse to defend the government's action.

30 minutes ago, DivineMadman said:

Does anyone really doubt they would rather be working?  All of the guys I am contact with or follow on Facebook say they would rather be working. 

Not me. I know--like you--that they want to get back to work. But here's the problem: in order for that to happen you need a huge influx of tourists. The government cites good reasons for delaying the return of tourists. In fact, the latest news out of the Tourism Authority claims that Thailand will pander only to the wealthy foreigner in the future.

So we're left debating the same issues we've been posting about for the past few months. At least it keeps things interesting.

[reader]

And it's not just in Thailand--and other places--where migrant workers are being taken advantage of. Here's a truly depressing report from the US state of Iowa. I read a lot of news on any given day but it's the stories about the poor and the powerless that register the most. There are no excuses and no justification.

From National Public Radio

Iowa's Burmese Community Devastated By COVID-19

Iowa's tight-knit Burmese community is inundated by the coronavirus. Many work at meatpacking plants and estimates are as high as 70% being infected, with entire families struggling to cope.

To listen go to

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/21/881173373/iowas-burmese-community-devastated-by-covid-19

[spoon]

Construction is one of the sector that opens up early in malaysia. It was closed in the initial lockdown phase though, which resulted in many foreign workers to go back to their hometown while some choose to stay. During the first easement of lockdown, construction was the first to open along with all related chain industry. However, our SOP was the construction company needs to have their workers who has symptoms to go for tests. Not long after, we see rises in cases from construction workers, and mass testing of foreign workers in construction were done. New cases increases daily hence the mass testing were expanded to all foreign workers in surrounding states. 

Im unsure how rigorous is thai gov with testing those who are working and what kind of SOP needed to be able to open up businesses after lockdown being relaxed. But over here, apart from rigorous contact tracing, we have additional clustering detection (5 cases or higher that isnt a close contact in an area), and if the cases are highly concentrated in an area, it will lead to a full lockdown of the area (no one in and out) followed by mass testing everyone in the area. This has been happenning throughout the lockdown period and are still happening. Maybe those who have been following the thai gov testing method can enlighten us all on their method which from posts here all i see is only contact tracing, random testing of frontliners, and testing and quarantine of citizen returning from oversea. This is certainly good enough for thailand to keep their cases low and their healthcare not overwhelmed and they are definitely doing more than myanmar, cambodia, or laos. 

Other than foreign workers, another seemingly neglected group id the homeless and during the lockdown, the homeless dont really have home to quarantine themselves in. Over here, they are all put in a makeshift shelter that are usually used for natural disaster shelter. Sadly, covid-19 doesnt care whether you are citizen or not, rich or poor, homeless or not, until everyone is following the same SOP and have access to testing and treatement, itll be hard to contain it. And id like to quote Trump here. "One way of reducing cases would be to stop testing altogether"

[DivineMadman]

2 hours ago, reader said:

Somehow I don't see Somchai hustling down to Silom at 10p.m. to poll the Cambodians running for the bus to take them back to the dorms. And since this is a work of fiction, I'm just lending a bit of literary criticism.

And my point w/r/t to the literary criticism was that I had actually addressed it, and personally, I don't think there's any doubt that the vast vast vast majority were happy to continue to work, rather than deprive their families of their earnings and go home where food will just get stretched thin.  

So again, the literary criticism - and let's not forget the ""Why am I not surprised?" -  seemed off point to me and actually denies the Cambodian workers' their "agency" - as people say nowadays.

 

[reader]

I agree that It's indeed quite possible that the Cambodians in bkk--and the Burmese in Iowa--prefer working under existing conditions than the alternatives.

But in my book that doesn't excuse those who impose those conditions simply because they know they can get away with it.

 

 

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, spoon said:

 And id like to quote Trump here. "One way of reducing cases would be to stop testing altogether"

loud fart always sounds better that what current POTUS has to say

[Guest]

If the workers were in Songkhla, I wonder why they were deported back to Myanmar at Mae Sot, when there are at least 2 border crossings further south ? 

[spoon]

19 minutes ago, z909 said:

If the workers were in Songkhla, I wonder why they were deported back to Myanmar at Mae Sot, when there are at least 2 border crossings further south ? 

At the beginning of the border closedown, lots of border crossing were shut. My guess is the only myanmar-thailand border crossing that is open now is Mae Sot.

[DivineMadman]

Thai press briefing today said that 19 of the guys (I think) had COVID-19 in detention and had stayed in detention until they were cured before being deported to Myanmar.  Apparently there are WHO guidelines about how to handle deportations that the countries in the region have adopted.  They are following through with the gov't of Myanmar on this and the other cases.

It could all be bullshit, or it could raise the question of whether Myanmar was reporting that the individuals tested positive for anitbodies.

Perhaps we will never know.