BANGKOK (Reuters) – The Thai capital of Bangkok will close all schools for two weeks after the New Year holiday, as measures are intensified to control a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the city said on Friday.
Thailand on Friday confirmed 279 new cases of coronavirus, with the majority linked to a group among migrant workers in Samut Sakhon province south of Bangkok, and another group linked to illegal gambling establishments starting in eastern Rayong province.
These new clusters began to spread to Bangkok, prompting the city’s administrator to curb the spread of the virus.
“We are starting to detect new cases related to students and other service enterprises,” said Pongsakorn Kwanmuang, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Administration in Bangkok.
“That’s why we decided to close more places,” he said.
All schools, day care centers for youth and the elderly, preschool and tutorial centers will be closed from January 4 to 17, while other public facilities, including amusement parks, playgrounds, public baths and massage parlors, will be closed from Saturday, he said.
Pongsakorn also said the city is considering restrictions on eating restaurants, but said more discussions with the COVID-19 government team are needed on Saturday.
Thailand on Friday recorded two new deaths due to coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 7,163 and the number of deaths to 63 since the outbreak began last January.
The majority of the new cases are the result of local transmission of the disease, while six have been imported from abroad, the government’s task force COVID-19 said.
(Written by Kay Johnson and Panu Wongcha-um: Editing by Neil Fullick)