Buddhist monks wearing face shields collect alms during a partial lock-in in Bangkok.
Photographer: Andre Malerba / Bloomberg
Photographer: Andre Malerba / Bloomberg
Thailand will impose more restrictions on businesses and gatherings in regions at greater risk due to the latest boom in cases of coronavirus, including the capital Bangkok.
Authorities have identified 28 provinces as high-risk areas and imposed new restrictions such as the suspension of some business activities and meetings that could potentially cause infections, health ministry officials in Bangkok said on Saturday. The new measures will take effect from Monday once the prime minister, Prayuth Chan-Ocha, has been approved.
Thailand is struggling with the recovery from the virus outbreak, and the country has reported more than 2,000 new cases in the past two weeks, asking the authorities to close schools in Bangkok and some businesses, including gyms, spas, bars and pubs, temporarily close. Prayuth’s government has refrained from imposing a national exclusion, but allowed provincial authorities to determine their own measures based on the risks of infections.
The new wave threatens to slow down Thailand’s plan to gradually reopen its tourism industry and revive South Asia’s second largest economy. The government plans to extends its local travel subsidy program to April to help the tourism industry cope with 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 between provinces with more than 50 active cases will be discouraged and people will be advised to work from home, officials said. The new curbs could be in place until the end of this month and will be reviewed later, they said.
The Ministry of Education has also ordered that all schools in these areas be closed from January 4 until the end of the month, Rachada Dhnadirek, a government spokesperson, said on Twitter.
Thailand reported 216 new virus cases and one death on Saturday, with most infections transmitted locally. While many of the new cases in recent weeks have been linked to a seafood market in Samut Sakhon province near Bangkok, local shipments from more than 58 provinces have now been reported, data from the Ministry of Health have shown.
According to Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, a spokesperson for Taweesilp Witsanuy, new cases in Thailand, which were relatively successful in containing the pathogen after being the first country outside China to report the deadly virus, could rise to as high as 18,000 a day . the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The country can limit new infections to about 1,000 cases a day with strict controls, he said.
– Assisted by Thomas Kutty Abraham
(Updates aimed at closing schools in more areas in the sixth paragraph.)