BANGKOK, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Thailand on Sunday reported three more local COVID-19 cases, all are family members of two Myanmar nationals in Thai soil, who previously tested positive for COVID-19 this past week, said the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Sunday.

"On Sept. 11, we discovered the first local COVID-19 case in Thailand in 100 days of free transmission," said the CCSA in Bangkok, "and in the past week, we discovered two COVID-19 cases of Myanmar nationals, and today (Sunday) we have confirmed another three, also Myanmar nationals."

The CCSA said that the five cases tested positive in Tak, a province in northwest of Thailand, bordering Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the governor of Tak province, Pongrat Phiromrat, has ordered all 33 border checkpoints and natural crossings with Myanmar closed, for at least a week.

Thai health officials quarantined the couple after they tested positive and quarantined the couple's child and two grandchildren, as well as four other migrant workers, at a mosque in Mae Sot district, said the governor.

The Tak governor added that following tests, the couple's child and grandchildren were found to be infected with the virus.

Pongrat said that health authorities are vigorously conducting COVID-19 tests throughout Tak Province.

About 3,000 people in Tak's Maesot district have been tested on Sunday by Thai health officials, with the results still pending, Pongrat said.

The minister also said he had on Sunday morning, ordered a partial lockdown of the community where the infected family lives and another nearby community.

Religious activities at temples, in churches and at mosques in five communities have been suspended and all five schools will shut for a week.

All food shops and convenience stores have been told to increase the screening of customers.

Thailand's total cases as of Sunday, stand at 3,686. No new deaths were reported, leaving the death toll at 59. Enditem

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