Bangkok, 9 provinces restrict movements
Confronted with a sharp rise in corona virus cases, the Thai capital on Sunday announced a ban on indoor dining and gatherings of more than 20 people, as well as the closure of construction sites and the sealing from workers' quarters in Bangkok and nine other provinces. The measures will remain for thirty days. Thailand reported 3,995 confirmed cases and 42 dead within the last a day. The numbers have doubled recently, and health officials blame too little cooperation from migrant personnel used in construction and in factories.
"Camps were closed but personnel sneaked out to markets and communities, and spread the condition," Apisamai Srirangson, spokesperson for the guts for COVID-19 Situation Administ-ration, said Friday. She said that "bubble and seal" disease control measures had proved successful within 28 days in handling clusters in Samut Sakhon province, south of Bangkok, but not in the capital.
The situation has become critical as the amount of hospital beds in Bangkok for seriously ill COVID-19 patients is running short regardless of the creation of several field hospitals. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Friday a proposal for a seven-day curfew for most of Bangkok has been rejected for the time being.
Beneath the new restrictions, construction workers will be isolated in camps in Bangkok and five neighboring provinces, and in the country's four southernmost provinces, all virus hotspots. Shops and malls in Bangkok can stay open until 9 p.m., but food and drinks in restaurants are allowed limited to takeaway. Seminars, meetings and parties are canceled. If more clusters are discovered, the governor can seal off those communities.
