Editor’s Note
This report details a localized COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand linked to a specific community of international traders. It underscores the ongoing, complex challenges of pandemic management in a globally connected world.
The Chanthaburi Provincial Disease Control Center in Thailand announced on May 9 that over a four-day period from May 6 to 9, 109 African traders engaged in the jewelry business in the province have tested positive for COVID-19. The infected individuals are from Guinea, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, and Gambia, and all reside within local residential communities. These communities have now been designated as high-risk zones by disease control authorities. Testing confirmed that the virus strain they contracted is not the variant first identified in Africa and India.
Disease control authorities have initiated large-scale virus screening in the affected areas. The head of the Chanthaburi Immigration Office has mandated that local African jewelry traders strictly adhere to the Thai government’s epidemic prevention regulations. Violators will not be granted visa extensions.
A leader of an organization representing African jewelry traders in Thailand revealed that visiting traders transmitted the virus to the local African jewelry community in Chanthaburi. Unaware of their infection, these individuals participated in religious gatherings with local residents, leading to widespread transmission.
Chanthaburi is located in eastern Thailand, bordering Cambodia. It is a major gemstone production and processing hub in Thailand, home to the country’s largest gem wholesale market. Known as the “World’s Gem Factory,” the region is famous for its rubies and sapphires.