Officials in the Thai capital Bangkok have announced new restrictions, including the closure of some entertainment facilities during the New Year's holiday, as infections continued to rise following a recent coronavirus outbreak.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After months of seeming to have the COVID-19 situation under control, Thailand has seen two major clusters developing since mid-December. One has mainly infected hundreds of migrant workers from Myanmar at a seafood market near Bangkok, while in recent days a cluster has grown connected to a gambling den in an eastern province.
As part of the new restrictions, hostess bars, gambling venues and massage parlours in Bangkok were ordered by the city government to close from Tuesday until January 4. Bars and restaurants will be allowed to remain open during this period, but must close at midnight and adhere to social distancing requirements.
Thailand reported 155 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday morning. Of those, 134 were local transmissions, 11 were migrant workers and 10 were from state quarantine, according to the government's COVID-19 coordinating centre.
Meanwhile, the latest COVID-19 death in nearly two months in Thailand was confirmed on Monday. The victim was a 45-year-old parking attendant at an illegal gambling den in Rayong province, on Thailand's eastern seaboard. At least 148 active cases have been linked to the gambling den.
The early closing times for bars and restaurants in Bangkok means that New Year's celebrations are likely to be strongly muted. Some popular midnight-countdown venues, including in the city's central shopping district and along the riverside, had already cancelled live concerts and other activities, but some fireworks displays are scheduled to go ahead as planned.
Thailand generally has been viewed as successful in combatting the coronavirus, due partly to its well-regarded public health infrastructure and people's adherence to mask-wearing and other protocols.
But cases have jumped significantly since an outbreak was detected last week among migrants from Myanmar working at a seafood market in Samut Sakhon province. Millions of low-wage jobs in Thailand are filled by workers from less affluent neighbouring countries, especially Myanmar.
More than 20 per cent of Thailand's total of 6,440 confirmed cases are migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, and cases connected to the cluster have been found in 44 other provinces.
Australian Associated Press
