Laos steps up border controls, Thailand launches “recover at home” plan
Local authorities in Laos are stepping up border controls to prevent people entering the country illegally from Thailand and avoiding screening for COVID-19.
People wear masks walking in a street in Vientiane, Laos. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Vientiane (VNA) – Local authorities in Laos are stepping up border controls toprevent people entering the country illegally from Thailand and avoidingscreening for COVID-19.
Itis common for returning migrants to enter Laos undocumented by crossing theMekong River at places where there are no immigration facilities. This meansthey are not screened for the virus or quarantined as the regulations require.
TheNational Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control recentlyinstructed authorities in Savannakhet, Saravan and Xayaboury provinces torecord the details of people entering Laos.
Theseprovinces are considered at high risk for the spread of the COVID-19 as theyborder Thailand, and the border between Laos and Thailand is porous. Laoscontinues to face challenges in monitoring people at border crossings andproviding assistance to returning workers affected by the pandemic.
Todate, 58 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Laos but no deaths from thevirus have been reported. A 14-day period of self-monitoring is required foreveryone entering Laos even if they have no COVID-19 symptoms.
InThailand, the Public Health Ministry has drawn up a plan to allow patients withless serious symptoms to self-quarantine at home to save hospital beds for themost serious cases.
Thecontingency plan aims to respond to growing concerns that hospital beds arefilling up fast in the current third wave of the pandemic, and that swiftaction must be taken in case the situation worsens.
Underthe home isolation plan unveiled on April 19, hospitals may consider allowingCOVID-19 patients with no symptoms to recover at home, albeit with a number ofconditions.
Hospitalswill be required to follow a set of criteria when considering COVID-19 patientsto self-quarantine - it is only recommended if the patients do not developother symptoms and they would be required to self-quarantine for a full month.
Eventhough the home isolation system was under consideration, it is not yetnecessary because about 3,000 beds were still available. So, it will not beimplement this time, according to the Health Ministry.
Departmentof Medical Services (DMS) Director-General Somsak Akksilp said hospitalisationwas still compulsory for all COVID-19 patients but that mild and asymptomaticcases, known as "Green" cases, could be sent to field hospitals andso-called "hospitels".
Hesaid all hospitals under the ministry's supervision were being instructed toset aside ICU beds as more severe cases were anticipated this week. The DMS isworking closely with medical schools in the management of ICU beds.
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People wear masks walking in a street in Vientiane, Laos. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
