"U Zaw Zaw, director of the Kachin government, said that more than 4000 returnees were natives of the state and about 1500 others lived elsewhere in the country. “The government has set no cut-off date for the returnees, so they are still being processed from 7am to 2pm every day,” he said. The migrant workers are being processed at the Lwegel and Kanpite Tee border gates. They have been forced to return to the country after losing their jobs in other countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the Kachin government estimated that more than 15,000 migrant workers would likely enter through the checkpoints. U Zaw Zaw said that none of the returnees have showed symptoms of COVID-19 so far, but one patient had suffered a stroke and one had kidney disease. Kachin has confirmed only one COVID-19 patient so far. Other state and regional governments are working with Kachin to repatriate their residents and put them in quarantine. Some people have expressed concern that the influx of migrant workers in Kachin and nearby would increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, since thousands of people have fled fighting and are living in temporary shelters in the area. The Chinese and Myanmar governments met in early April, and agreed to start repatriating the workers on April 16. The government is also bracing for the return of over 15,000 workers from Thailand who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and has designated the Myawady border gates in Kayin State as the entry point for the returning workers. Also, the government has also been organising flights to bring back Myanmar citizens stranded abroad due to the pandemic..."