New cases of Covid-19 originating at a fresh seafood market in Samut Sakhon are rising as authorities conduct more tests on migrant workers from Myanmar.
The deputy provincial governor said on Sunday 146 more workers from the neighbouring country tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Sunday, raising the province's total to 694.
The figure was considerably higher than the 516 infections in Myanmar workers reported hours earlier by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.
The permanent secretary for public health expected the number of cases to climb as results come in from tests on workers at the Central Shrimp Market in Samut Sakhon's Muang district.
Authorities are testing 10,000 Myanmar workers and the number will increase to 40,000 in a bid to contain the outbreak within the province.
The market mainly employs workers from Myanmar, with only 10% of the labour force there of Thai nationality, according to the Public Health Ministry.
The first case was a Thai woman who owns a stall at the market. She fell ill on Dec 13 and tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Dec 17.
The lockdown of the market and some other areas in Samut Sakhon are also aimed at containing the outbreak.
The virus found at the market has spilled into at least five neighbouring provinces so far.
Three patients had been found in Samut Prakan, two each in Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom and one each in Suphan Buri and Ratchaburi.
