Thai soldiers carrying machine guns patrol the border with Burma amid a spike in Covid-19 cases in the neighbouring country.<br /><br />Dozens of Burmese workers have been caught in recent weeks trying to enter Thailand illegally across the river’s and dense jungle in Chiang Rai in the north of the country.<br /><br />Officials fear that they could bring in fresh cases of the coronavirus to Thailand, which has recorded just two local transmissions in more than 100 days.<br /><br />Footage shows military personnel walking through the area to deter illegal entrants and catch any who have made it into the country.<br /><br />Burma, now also known as Myanmar, has recorded 4,467 cases of Covid-19 and 70 deaths. <br /><br />Thailand closed its borders on March 22 and government chiefs are now torn between keeping them closed and stopping the spread of the virus, or re-opening to international visitors to stimulate the tourism-reliant economy, which accounted for up to 20 per cent of GBP in 2019.
