Lockdown decision expected tomorrow for Bangkok

A full lockdown decision is expected tomorrow for Thailand’s capital of Bangkok after record daily Covid-19 infections have sent the city into a frenzy trying to stop the spread of the virus. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration is expected to make the recommendation which will be forwarded to the full committee chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The CCSA will also discuss a proposed 21 day quarantine for those travelling from Covid-19 hotspots abroad. The recommended hot spots include India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Yesterday, the capital recorded 901 infections and 4 deaths, sending the city into a partial lockdown with mask wearing compulsory. But even Thailand’s PM was caught skirting the mask-wearing rule as he has had to cough up 6,000 baht after the Bangkok governor fined him for not wearing a face mask while attending a meeting at Government House yesterday.

Thai PBS World reported that a photo of the PM sitting at a meeting table without a face mask was posted on his own Facebook page after the meeting. The photo was later removed, but by then, it had already been shared by eagle-eyed netizens.

Meanwhile, 31 types of businesses in Bangkok were ordered to shutter for at least 2 weeks from yesterday. And, today, 2,179 new Covid-19 cases and 15 deaths, in Thailand, were reported by the Ministry of Public Health’s Department of Disease Control. The recent wave of infections over the past month makes up more than half of Thailand’s total count with 30,824 people infected with Covid-19 since April 1. This month, 69 Covid patients have succumbed to the virus. There are now 25,973 active Covid-19 cases in Thailand including 169 patients in critical condition.

Bars and nightclubs are linked to the majority of Covid-19 cases reported in Bangkok over the past month. Data from Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration show that nearly two-thirds of the recent wave of Covid-19 infections in Bangkok traced back to entertainment venues. Since the start of the pandemic last year, Thailand has reported 59,687 Covid-19 infections and 163 coronavirus-related deaths.