A village in Chumsaeng district, with the population of almost 1,000, has been placed under a 14-day lockdown after eight residents were diagnosed with Covid-19.
Local officials and health volunteers on Wednesday strung ropes across all entrances to Village Moo 3 in tambon Phan Lan with banners forbidding people to enter or leave the village.
In a move reminiscent of a bad, surreal, 1970s science fiction movie, the village has been sealed off until May 11 after 8 residents were found to have contracted Covid-19.
A further 45 people who came into contact with the infected were deemed to be at high risk.
This locks down the entire village with a population of 997 whose freedoms and civil liberties have been wiped away.
Chumsaeng district chief Suwat Chansuk said all side entrances to the village have been closed.
Vehicles using the main road that passes through the village to Chumsaeng district were allowed to pass but not allowed to stop in the village.
Officials were preparing to set up a checkpoint in the village with staff manning it around the clock during the 14-day lockdown period.
How long will it be now before the 18th century leper colonies are re-established and those ‘deemed’ to be at risk are carted off to isolated locations, or remote islands, never to be seen by their families again?
