BANGKOK, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Ministry of Public Health said on Tuesday that health volunteers across the country will be deployed to monitor the health of Thai workers returning from South Korea.
"Illegal workers returning home from South Korea to escape the COVID-19 epidemic are being put into voluntary self-quarantine," said Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.
"Since South Korea has not declared a lockdown, unlike China's Wuhan, the returnees are not required to enter quarantine. So the government is only asking the Thai returnees from South Korea to go through self-quarantine."
When 137 Thais returned to Thailand from Wuhan early last month, they were all quarantined for 14 days, Prawit said.
The Thai Labour Ministry said there are about 20,000 Thais working legally in South Korea, and at least 140,000 illegal workers.
What worried Thai officials was that many illegal Thai workers were returning from Daegu, the epicenter of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in South Korea, said Prawit.
The Thai Labour Ministry explained that the return of the illegal Thai is mainly due to a policy of the South Korean government to allow over-stayers to leave, as part of a campaign to discourage illegal workers.
On Tuesday, two Thai illegal workers returning from South Korea were found to have fever during the thermal screening upon their arrivals and sent to hospitals for monitoring and testing of the COVID-19.
