After months of calm, Thailand grapples with COVID-19 outbreak

BANGKOK: After managing against all odds to keep the coronavirus under control for most of the year, Thailand was suddenly challenged by a spreading outbreak among migrant workers at the gates of the capital Bangkok.

The surge in cases in Samut Sakhon province threatens to undo months of efforts to contain the virus and accelerate the recovery of Thailand’s ailing economy.

Cases related to the outbreak have already been found in more than a dozen other provinces, including Bangkok.

Officials in the capital ordered that existing security measures, such as social distancing, wearing masks and fever control, be more strictly observed in markets, temples, parks and entertainment venues.

Contact tracing has detected suspicious cases for testing, as well as areas that need to be disinfected. At a mall in the popular Siam Square shopping area of ​​central Bangkok, three stores visited by a Thai woman who tested positive were temporarily closed for deep cleaning, as was a food court at the nearby MBK shopping center. .

READ: Thai Prime Minister Blames Rise of COVID-19 on Illegal Migration, Hints at New Restrictions

The new wave of coronavirus cases abroad already means that Thailand’s economic rebound will slow as the global economy will take longer to recover, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in a televised speech on Tuesday (December 22). ) at night.

“What we’ve seen now is that being too relaxed about COVID precautionary measures can lead to further economic suffering,” he said.

Thailand reported 46 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, of which 39 were transmitted locally. Most of the local infections were related to the shrimp market in Samut Sakhon, the Bangkok Post reported.

Prayut said the situation means Thailand must act cautiously while relaxing the rules for admitting visitors from other countries, an approach that could hamper efforts to revive the country’s lucrative tourism industry, whose business dried up after the country closed. to regular passenger flights from abroad early. April.

READ: ‘A step in the right direction’: Thai tour operators welcome special visa for foreigners

Shortly before the latest outbreak was found last week, a new expanded list of countries whose tourists could enter under strict restrictions was issued, and the idea of ​​shortening a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival was discussed.

The 576 new coronavirus cases in Thailand reported on Sunday, a 13 percent increase from Thailand’s previous overall total of 4,907, was the largest daily increase in the country.

He now has a total of 5,762 COVID-19 infections.

READ: Thailand tells market customers to look for evidence as COVID-19 cases rise

Health officials said 44 percent of migrant workers and people with direct links to the market who have been tested so far were infected, though most showed no symptoms.

The seafood market was closed for the weekend and other local restrictions were imposed, including a nightly curfew, a travel ban outside the province and the closure of many public places.

Late Tuesday night, two neighboring provinces also imposed lockdown measures, including a ban on New Year celebrations. The spa town of Pattaya has also canceled plans for public celebrations.

The Center for the Management of the COVID-19 Situation declared on Wednesday 23 provinces, almost a third of the total, high risk according to the suppliers that identified where their main customers were from.

Although cases related to the seafood market have spread throughout the country, Prayut expressed his confidence that Thailand “can continue to be among the least affected countries in the world by this terrible disease.”

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has praised Thailand’s handling of its coronavirus crisis several times, citing in a September tweet: “All society and government response, extensive testing, tracking of contacts, community participation and national mobilization of community health workers. “.

Prayut’s declaration of a state of emergency in March also allowed his government to implement measures ranging from lockdown and censorship to making the use of masks mandatory and banning the sale of alcohol to combat the virus.

The president of the Federation of Thai Industries, Supan Mongkolsuthree, said that due to the new outbreak, Samut Sakhon’s industrial sector faced losses estimated at around 1 billion baht (US $ 33.1 million) per day.

Supan said the federation opposes closure measures in other areas, because the problem was localized and the government could contain it.

Thai Union Group and Charoen Pokphand Foods, both major seafood producers with operations in Samut Sakhon, said they expect little or no disruption to their supply chains.

The origin of the latest outbreak is not yet clear, but virtually all new cases involve migrant workers from Thailand’s neighboring Myanmar working in the fishing industry.

Low-wage migrant labor drives much of Thailand’s economy, from factories to fishing to construction. According to the Thai Ministry of Labor, there are more than 233,000 documented migrant workers in Samut Sakhon, in addition to an unknown number working illegally.

There are an estimated 4-5 million foreign workers in Thailand, according to the UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration.

Despite efforts to regularize their status, many migrant workers are brought to Thailand by human smugglers and then forced to work in near-slavery conditions for small businesses, as a 2015 Associated Press investigation discovered when it examined some of the hundreds. shrimp. Chipped sheds hidden in plain sight on residential streets or behind unmarked walls in Samut Sakhon.

READ: Thailand’s Seafood Slavery – Why Fishermen Abuse Just Won’t Go Away

The workers’ origins in Myanmar have already led to finger pointing at the current outbreak, as a coronavirus outbreak that began in August in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state spread to the commercial capital Yangon, and then further. east to the Thai border.

Thai authorities tried to limit cross-border traffic, but the border is notoriously porous. In early December, cases originating from Myanmar were found in northern Thailand. They were Thais who had returned from stays in Myanmar and evaded border controls that would have forced them to self-quarantine. At least two flew south to Bangkok before they could be located.

However, a segment of popular opinion blames migrant workers who allegedly infiltrated Thailand for the new outbreak.

“This latest outbreak of infections in Samut Sakhon is mainly due to those illegal immigrants,” Prime Minister Prayuth said Tuesday, without providing evidence.

Activists for migrant workers frame the situation differently, pointing out that two other Southeast Asian countries, Singapore and Malaysia, have also had large outbreaks among migrant workers.

“Migrant workers in Asia continue to be at high risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 due to their inability to practice social distancing both in their labor-intensive workplaces and in their crowded and often unsanitary homes,” Andy said Hall, a migrant worker rights specialist working across Asia.

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