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BANGKOK: The Thai capital of Bangkok will close all schools for two weeks after the New Year holidays while tightening measures to control a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the city said on Friday.
Thailand confirmed 279 new coronavirus cases on Friday (January 1), most of them linked to a group of migrant workers in the Samut Sakhon province south of Bangkok, and another group linked to illegal gambling dens that started in the eastern province of Rayong.
These new groups have started to spread to Bangkok, prompting the city administrator to toughen measures to curb the spread of the virus.
READ: Thailand reports 279 new COVID-19 cases, 2 new deaths
“We are beginning to detect new cases involving students and other service companies,” said Pongsakorn Kwanmuang, a spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
“So we decided to close more places,” he said.
All schools, day care centers for young and old, preschools and tutoring centers will be closed from January 4 to 17, while other public facilities, including amusement parks, playgrounds, public restrooms and massage parlors will be closed as of January Saturday, he said.
Pongsakorn also said the city is considering restaurant dining restrictions, but said more discussions are needed with the government COVID-19 task force on Saturday.
Thailand recorded two new coronavirus deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of infections to 7,163 and the death toll to 63 since the outbreak began last January.
Most of the new cases were due to local transmission of the disease, while six were imported from abroad, the government COVID-19 task force said.
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