VIENTIANE, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Lao government continues to implement preventive measures and monitor people entering Laos to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19, even as the country recorded no new confirmed cases for 34 consecutive days.
Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under Lao Ministry of Health, Rattanaxay Phetsavanh, told a press conference on Saturday that people entering Laos especially returning workers will be sent to quarantine centers for 14 days to prevent people from bringing the virus to the country.
On Friday, a total of 2,324 people entered Laos through international border checkpoints. Of these, 1,507 people crossed the border with Thailand, 46 of them were Lao returning workers, and others were truck drivers bringing freight into Laos.
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 center in the provinces for 14 days, according to the report.
The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Saturday announced it was monitoring 2,371 people at 66 accommodation centers across the country.
As of Saturday, Laos has tested 4,424 suspected cases with 19 cases tested positive, and 14 patients have recovered.
The other five infected cases are treated in the designated hospital -- Mittaphab Hospital (Hospital 150) in Lao capital Vientiane.
Laos announced its first two COVID-19 confirmed cases on March 24. Enditem
