BANGKOK: As Thai authorities were battling to contain a rising COVID-19 outbreak simply days before the nation’s traditional Songkran New Yr’s vacation when millions of individuals travel around the nation.
Health officers reported another 559 new infections nationwide on Friday, following a spike of 405 new cases and 334 new cases the earlier two days. Authorities have responded by ordering that entertainment venues in 41 provinces shut for 2 weeks beginning on Saturday, whereas governors in some provinces are inserting restrictions on travelers arriving from elsewhere.
Such daily increases in new infections are rare for Thailand, which has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic far better than many nations through measures including strict border controls that have decimated the nation’s lucrative tourism industry.
Thailand has also experimented at times with everything from curfews and alcohol bans to closures of schools, shopping malls, and restaurants.
Both travelers and businesses alike had been hoping that this 12 months’ Songkran holiday could go forward without a spike in infections. The official holiday was canceled last yr to slow the spread of the disease as it got here as the nation was experiencing its first major outbreak.
The national government has so far declined to issue blanket travel restrictions this yr, though provincial authorities are allowed to set quarantine rules for individuals coming from high-risk zones such as Bangkok. Several provinces have done so, throwing many people’s travel plans into question.
The current outbreak is the largest the nation has seen since one in December that was centered around a fresh food market that employs a number of migrant workers from Myanmar.
This time, however, the outbreak has been traced to a number of bars and nightlife venues in the heart of Bangkok, including many popular with the rich and powerful.
Cases are now on the rise in at least 20 provinces, with authorities saying a few of those infected have a more contagious variant of the virus first detected in Britain.
The outbreak – which has infected at least one Cabinet minister and forced a number of others into self-quarantine – is increasing criticism of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government and its handling of the pandemic.
Whereas Thailand has only recorded 30,869 infections and 96 deaths since the pandemic began, critics say the government hasn’t done sufficient with regards to vaccinations or support for individuals whose livelihoods have been wiped out by the pandemic.
Thailand has vaccinated less than 1 percent of its 69 million people and has on hand a relatively small supply of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
Whereas there have been some high-profile vaccination events – together with, most recently, inoculations for employees at now-closed leisure venues in areas affected by the newest outbreak – there may be nonetheless no clear agenda for when most people will have the ability to get a vaccine.
The government response to the newest outbreak has to date centered on closures of nightlife venues. Bangkok city officials earlier this week ordered all nightspots in three affected neighborhoods to be closed. The nation’s central authority managing the COVID-19 situation expanded that on Friday to bars, nightclubs, and karaoke parlors in 41 provinces.
Authorities in Bangkok have arranged mass testing sites in some of the affected neighborhoods, drawing large crowds of people who often have to wait hours in line.
Efforts to find possible infections have been complicated now that a number of hospitals in Bangkok have said they are suspending COVID-19 testing due to shortages in the chemicals needed to process checks.
The government has ordered preparations to set up field hospitals to accommodate any surge in patients, and stated vacant rooms in Bangkok hotels could also be converted to accommodate infected individuals if numbers keep rising.
