BANGKOK: Thailand plans to test more than 10,000 people after a record each day surge in coronavirus cases to more than 500, most of which were amongst migrant employees linked to a shrimp market close to the capital, an official mentioned on Sunday (Dec 20).
By Wednesday the authorities goal to conduct 10,300 tests within the southwest province of Samut Sakhon, where the outbreak appeared, and such nearby provinces as Samut Songkhram and Nakhon Pathom, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for Thailand’s COVID-19 taskforce, advised a news conference.
“Active case findings will continue in a number of provinces, actually across the nation,” he mentioned.
Thailand, the first nation outside China to report coronavirus infections, has largely kept the outbreak under control with 4,907 cases and 60 deaths.
On Sunday, Thailand confirmed 576 new infections, including 516 migrant employee cases announced locally the day before.
The new cases embody 19 domestically transmitted cases in Bangkok and in Samut Sakhon province, where the 516 infections have been also found. All of them have been linked to the shrimp market in Samut Sakhon. There were also 41 imported cases.
Most of the migrant staff in Samut Sakhon are from Myanmar, which has suffered a far worse outbreak than Thailand, where health authorities credit early action with limiting the spread of the virus.
Other Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, have also reported 1000’s of cases amongst migrant staff.
The surge in cases in Thailand comes just as it’s seeking to revive a tourist business devastated by the pandemic. On Thursday, it eased restrictions to allow extra international tourists to return.
