Thailand faces growing COVID-19 outbreak ahead of Songkran travel
A health worker checks the blood pressure of a Buddhist monk, who received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, for side effects at Nak Prok Temple in Bangkok on Friday, Apr 9, 2021. (Photo: AP/Sakchai Lalit)
BANGKOK: Thai authorities were struggling on Friday (Apr 9) to contain a growing COVID-19 outbreak just days before the country's traditional Songkran New Year’s holiday, when millions of people travel around the country.
Health officials reported another 559 new infections nationwide on Friday, following increases of 405 new cases and 334 new cases the previous two days. Authorities have responded by ordering that entertainment venues in 41 provinces close for two weeks starting on Saturday, while governors in some provinces are placing restrictions on travellers arriving from elsewhere.
Such daily increases in new infections are rare for Thailand, which has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic far better than many nations through measures including strict border controls that have decimated the country's lucrative tourism industry.
Thailand has also experimented at times with everything from curfews and alcohol bans to closures of schools, shopping malls and restaurants.
Both travellers and businesses alike had been hoping that this year's Songkran holiday could go forward without a spike in infections. The official holiday was cancelled last year to slow the spread of the disease, as it came as the country was experiencing its first major outbreak.
The national government has so far declined to issue blanket travel restrictions this year, though provincial authorities are allowed to set quarantine rules for people coming from high-risk zones such as Bangkok. Several provinces have done so, throwing many people's travel plans into question.
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The current outbreak is the largest the country has seen since one in December that was centred around a fresh food market that employs a number of migrant workers from Myanmar.
This time, however, the outbreak has been traced to a number of bars and nightlife venues in the heart of Bangkok, including many popular with the rich and powerful.
Cases are now on the rise in at least 20 provinces, with authorities saying some of those infected have a more contagious variant of the virus first detected in Britain.
The outbreak - which has infected at least one Cabinet minister and forced a number of others into self-quarantine - is increasing criticism of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government and its handling of the pandemic.
While Thailand has only recorded 30,869 infections and 96 deaths since the pandemic began, critics say the government hasn’t done enough with regards to vaccinations or support for people whose livelihoods have been wiped out by the pandemic.
Thailand has vaccinated less than 1 per cent of its 69 million people, and has on hand a relatively small supply of the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
While there have been some high-profile vaccination events - including, most recently, inoculations for workers at now-closed entertainment venues in areas affected by the latest outbreak - there is still no clear time table for when the general public will be able to get a vaccine.
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The government response to the latest outbreak has so far centred on closures of nightlife venues. Bangkok city officials earlier this week ordered all nightspots in three affected neighbourhoods to be closed. The country's central authority managing the COVID-19 situation expanded that on Friday to bars, nightclubs and karaoke parlours in 41 provinces.
Authorities in Bangkok have set up mass testing sites in some of the affected neighbourhoods, drawing large crowds of people who often have to wait hours in line.
Efforts to find possible infections have been complicated now that a number of hospitals in Bangkok have said they are suspending COVID-19 testing due to shortages in the chemicals needed to process tests.
The government has ordered preparations to set up field hospitals to accommodate any surge in patients, and said vacant rooms in Bangkok hotels could also be converted to accommodate infected people if numbers keep rising.
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