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BANGKOK (BLOOMBERG) – Thailand’s capital has been labeled a second-tier coronavirus risk zone as the government failed to impose broader restrictions to stop an outbreak of infections that broke out in a nearby coastal province.
The country reported 67 new coronavirus cases on Thursday (December 24), of which 58 were transmitted locally, bringing the total number of reported infections in Thailand to 5,829. About a fifth of all cases were reported last week, with more than 1,300 added since Sunday after a cluster was found in Bangkok’s neighboring Samut Sakhon province.
“Thailand is ready to deal with the current situation of the outbreak,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told a briefing in Bangkok. “What’s important is that health experts still confirm that we can contain this.”
Bangkok is one of four areas bordering the epicenter of the latest outbreak that was classified as a second-tier risk of contracting coronavirus.
Samut Sakhon, where the group grew up around workers in seafood processing plants, was ranked the most risky on a scale of four based on contagion hazard.
In June, Thailand lifted most of the lockdown measures imposed since late March to boost the economy after locally transmitted coronavirus cases declined. A state of emergency is maintained at the national level that allows authorities to quickly impose restrictions if deemed necessary.
Bangkok’s provincial administration on Wednesday ordered all of its schools closed until January 3, while some sports clubs announced closures until further notice. Measures to reduce infections have been left to administrators in Thailand’s 77 provinces.
Most of the country’s provinces are considered lower risk and activities including New Year’s celebrations can still be carried out, with appropriate measures to prevent infections, according to Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, spokesperson for the government’s Covid-19 Center.
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