Thailand curbed shop operating hours on Saturday after the nation recorded another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths amid a 3rd wave of the pandemic.
Shopping malls in 18 risky provinces, together with within the capital Bangkok, will be restricted to operating between 11 am and 8 pm for a week from Sunday.
Restaurants within the malls can be allowed to stay open an hour later, whereas convenience shops can be permitted to function from 5 am to 10 pm.
Schools, bars, and massage parlors were shut a week ago and will stay closed till next month, while alcohol sales have been banned in restaurants in an effort to increase social distancing.
Officials reported 2,839 new coronavirus cases and eight new deaths on Saturday, bringing Thailand’s total to 53,022 cases and 129 deaths. The nation has managed to keep its caseload far lower than many nations, however, the new outbreak, spurred in part by the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant, has resulted in 24,000 infections and 35 infections in just 24 days.
“Government agencies and the private sector should permit staff to work from home as much as possible because we don’t want to introduce more strict measures,” stated Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s COVID-19 task force.
The task force reassured there were currently enough hospital beds within the nation to deal with the outbreak.
The nation’s beleaguered vaccine rollout got a boost on Saturday with the arrival of 500,000 doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech vaccine. A million extra doses are due to arrive in mid-May, deputy government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisaranakul stated.
Just under 1 million individuals have been vaccinated in the nation of around 66 million.
Officials are largely relying on the anticipated June rollout of the locally-made AstraZeneca vaccine, of which it has ordered 61 million doses.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has promised to source more vaccines to inoculate 50 million Thais by the end of the yr.
