Coronavirus Thailand
Phuket authorities on the hunt for quarantine dodgers

Phuket police and officials from the health department are trying to track down a group of people they believe to be potential carriers of the Covid-19 virus. The group had been asked to self-quarantine, but it’s now believed they continued to meet people outside their homes and defied the direct orders of health officials.
Phuket has the highest rate of infection in Thailand, per capita, despite the nightly curfew and the introduction of restrictions on movement between tambons (sub-districts) . Today, the province recorded another new case and one more death. The total number of cases identified in Phuket now stands at 207.
Provincial chief of police, Rungrote Thakurapunyasiri, says the group that had been asked to self-quarantine lied about their whereabouts and continued to leave their homes. The chief has slammed the lack of honesty, accusing the group of potentially spreading the virus further through their actions.
“Even though they were advised to self-isolate at home for 14 days, their lack of honesty could worsen the situation. They could have easily spread the virus to unsuspecting people. The total lack of honesty also needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. “
It’s understood that 30 police officers are working alongside health authorities in the province to hunt down those who have escaped quarantine, as well as tracing all those they may have been in contact with.
“They are trained to use the principles of investigation. They know how to make these suspects tell the truth and get information from them quickly.”
SOURCE: Chiangrai Times
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Coronavirus News & Updates
New scheduled departure times for people leaving Phuket

While Phuket officials have allowed tens of thousands of people to leave the island to head back to their home provinces, the Phuket provincial government only allowed Phuket residents to leave the island in their own vehicles on April 30 and May 1, being the ‘first round’ and ‘second round’ of the mass exodus.
But on the first day there was traffic jams for kilometres and general chaos around the Tha Chatchai Checkpoint, along with not-very-happy people. Only a few of the total people queueing up managed to leave the island on that first day. Since then the Phuket provincial government has set new guidelines for people who want to leave the island.
The new strategy is a time based queue registration system. Those who wish to leave Phuket must first sign up via a website booking and select a scheduled time. Tha Chatchai Checkpoint, will be open for 700 people to exit every hour starting from 5 am – 8 pm, allowing a total of 10,500 people per day.
The passengers must also pass the fit-to-travel requirements at the checkpoint. This is done by providing a certificate from the ‘provincial administration for Covid-19’ which states that travellers are Covid-19 free. Inquires can be made in advance at the Phuket Provincial Police (building 191) or through their Facebook page at ‘191phuket’.
Buses and vans will also be available for people who have booked in advanced. People must reserve a specific time.
“If you do not arrive within the requested period, you must go back to register again.”
SOURCE: Phuket Police
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Coronavirus Thailand
Phuket reports no new Covid-19 cases for fourth day, one new death

The southern island province of Phuket reported no new Covid-19 cases today, a fourth consecutive day, though there was one additional death.
The man was a 63 year old hotelier from Khao Lak in neighbouring Phang Nga province on the mainland, who visited Phuket before falling ill. He travelled to Phuket between March 19-21 and first began exhibiting symptoms on March 24.
He suffered from from cystic fibrosis, a disease which affects the lungs and digestive system. He returned to Phuket for the critical treatment offered by the island’s hospitals, but succumbed to the illness yesterday.
As of today, Phuket has discharged 180 patients and retains 36 patients in hospital, with 57 still awaiting test results, whereas more than 5,000 considered “at high risk” have tested negative and been sent home. Yesterday’s death takes the island’s total to 3.
The recent downturn in numbers is especially encouraging as Phuket province has long had the highest rate of infection per capita in the kingdom, and the second-highest actual numbers of infections, after Bangkok.
SOURCE: Phuket People’s Voice
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Coronavirus Phuket
People returning from Phuket to Krabi greeted with 14 day quarantine

Some Krabi residents, joining the exodus from Phuket after the Phuket opened its only land border at Sarasin Bridge last week, were greeted with a mandatory swab-test yesterday. 76 Krabi residents returned from Phuket yesterday,
Krabi’s governor, Kitibadee Prawit, joined public health officials and Krabi Hospital’s director in overseeing collection of swab samples from a group of 76 returnees on Tuesday. 39 had returned from areas in Phuket deemed “at high risk” for Covid-19 transmission – Cherngtalay, Patong, Kathu, and Koh Kaew.
Returnees from those high-risk areas were sent for a state-enforced 14 days holiday, aka. quarantine, at hotels provided in Krabi. The remainder were allowed to quarantine at their homes under the supervision of public health officials.
On Sunday the deputy governor of Krabi province, Somkuan Khan-ngern, claimed that the Phuket departees “had spread coronavirus to his province”.
Later he retracted the comment and apologised to the media saying that his comments were “a thoughtless accusation, made during an inspection of screening checkpoint in Ao Nang”. He said he had no intention to offend the people of Phuket.
The deputy governor had also reportedly initially refused to allow people from Phuket to enter Krabi.
The Phuket provincial administration has been allowing thousands of migrant workers and non-resident Thais to return to leave the island their home provinces. They had been stranded in Phuket, mostly without work, after the Phuket governor sealed off the land, sea and air borders of the island in early April.
Those who want to leave are being told to apply for a “Fit to Travel” permits from the provincial administration, which then have to shown to officials at the Tha Chatchai checkpoint on departure, checkpoints along the way, and their destinations. Some 50,000+ people have registered to leave Phuket since the land border partially opened last week, more than 10% of the island’s permanent population.
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