Hundreds of Myanmar migrant workers were seen fleeing Thailand on Tuesday days after Bangkok announced a shutdown of entertainment businesses and malls to curb the virus outbreak.
Libby Hogan reports.
Crowds of Myanmar migrants mobbed a border gate as they fled in the hundreds from Thailand Tuesday(March 24) trying to reach home over the border.
Video on social media showed them dragging bags stuffed with belongings days after Bangkok announced a shutdown of businesses and malls to curb the coronavirus.
This meant lost jobs for many Myanmar workers, who fill cheap labour roles in Thailand.
Myanmar reported its first confirmed cases of the virus on Tuesday in two men who had recently traveled to the US and the UK.
Myanmar had been the most populous country in the world to say it had no cases, despite sharing a long border with China that can be easy to move across.
Two doctors told Reuters a likely explanation for the lack of cases in Myanmar was limited testing.
A spokeswoman for the health ministry said the country had carried out around 300 tests as of Monday evening, in a population of 51 million.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi released a video message encouraging the public to wash their hands properly.
Time will tell whether this is enough.
Thailand has confirmed thousands of cases next door raising fears that migrants returning home could lead to further spreading of the virus.
Hundreds of workers converge on the border between Thailand and Myanmar this morning (March 23) as they scramble to return home..