Govt Strictly Monitoring People Entering Laos To Prevent Spread Of Covid-19 / 5.5.2020
Source: Vientiane Times
The government is strictly implementing preventive measures and monitoring people entering Laos at the borders to prevent the spread of Covid-19, even as the country recorded no new infections for 23 consecutive days.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Phouthone Muongpak, also the Deputy Head of the National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, told a daily news briefing: “We are paying attention to strict monitoring and surveillance of people entering the country to prevent people from bringing the virus to our country.
“People entering the country especially Lao workers who return from foreign countries will be sent to quarantine centres and hotels in provinces for 14 days. We don’t allow self-quarantine at home to prevent the spread of the virus.”
He said as of 5 pm on May 4, a total of 1,574 people entering Laos through international border checkpoints were checked for Covid-19, and none of them showed signs of fever.
Of these, 884 people crossed the border with Thailand, and 76 of them were Lao workers returning to their homes in Champassak. A total of 104 people crossed the Lao-Thai Friendship bridge in Vientiane and others were truck drivers bringing goods into Laos.
A total of 24 truck drivers crossed the Laos-China border, while 666 truck drivers entered Laos from Vietnam.
At all border crossings, the temperature of each person entering Laos was checked and no one showed signs of fever. All Lao workers returning to their homes were sent to a quarantine centre in the provinces for 14 days.
From January to May 4, a total of 2,418 people were tested for the virus, with 19 people testing positive.
A total of 195 samples were tested for the Coronavirus on May 4. These samples included those of six people suspected to be infected and 189 Lao workers who returned from Thailand. All of 195 samples tested negative.
As of May 4, a total of 566 people were in 93 quarantine centres, and all the people in self-isolation at home had already completed 14 days.
Medical official are monitoring the symptoms of 10 Covid-19 patients at Mittaphab Hospital in Vientiane, including one person who tested positive after recovering.
Currently, all these Covid-19 patients have only mild symptoms and their monitoring will continue until they test negative.
As of 6 am on May 5, the Coronavirus has infected 3,639,512 people in 212 countries. It has claimed 251,708 lives, while 1,190,967 people have been discharged from hospital after recovering, according to the Taskforce Committee.
Asean countries are still reporting new infections and deaths, with a total of 573 new infections and 35 deaths on May 4.
