Buddhist monks with face shields collect alms during a partial lockdown in Bangkok.
Photographer: Andre Malerba / Bloomberg
Photographer: Andre Malerba / Bloomberg
Thailand will put more restrictions on businesses and meetings in regions more at risk from the latest coronavirus flare-up, including the capital Bangkok.
Authorities identified 28 provinces as high-risk areas and instituted new restrictions, such as suspending some business activities and meetings that could potentially cause infections, health ministry officials said in Bangkok on Saturday. The new measures will go into effect Monday once approved by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, they said.
Thailand fights a resurgence in the virus outbreak, with the country reporting more than 2,000 new cases in the past two weeks alone, prompting authorities to close schools in Bangkok and temporarily close some businesses, including gyms, spas, etc. pubs and bars. Prayuth’s government has declined to impose a national lockdown, but allowed the provinces to take measures themselves based on contamination risks.
The new wave threatens to slow Thailand’s plan to gradually reopen the tourism industry and revive Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. The government is planning extends its domestic travel grant program beyond April to help the tourism industry cope with the blow from the latest outbreak, tourism minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said earlier this week.
Under the stricter social distance rules recommended by the Covid-19 Response Center, travel will be discouraged between counties with more than 50 active cases and people will be advised to work from home, officials said. The new curbs may be in place until the end of this month and will be revised later, they said.
The Ministry of Education also ordered all schools in these areas to be closed from Jan. 4 to the end of the month, Rachada Dhnadirek, a government spokeswoman, said on Twitter.
Thailand reported 216 new virus cases and one death on Saturday, with most infections locally transmitted. While many of the new cases in recent weeks were related to a fish market in Samut Sakhon province near Bangkok, local transmissions have now been reported from more than 58 provinces, data from the Ministry of Health has shown.
According to Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, a spokesman for Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, new cases in Thailand, which was relatively successful in controlling the pathogen after becoming the first country outside of China to report the deadly virus, could reach 18,000 a day if measures are not taken. taken. the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The country can limit new infections to about 1,000 cases per day with strict controls, he said.
– With the help of Thomas Kutty Abraham
(Updates to close schools in more areas in sixth paragraph.)