Covid-19 News
Stay informed with the latest Covid-19 news at The Thaiger, your go-to source for pandemic updates. Keep up-to-date on global developments, vaccine rollouts, and safety measures. Our comprehensive coverage includes essential information on travel restrictions, case numbers, and government policies.
Whether you’re seeking guidance or simply staying aware, The Thaiger’s Covid-19 news page is your essential resource for navigating these unprecedented times. Engage with our expertly curated content, designed to keep you informed and prepared as the world continues to adapt to the ongoing pandemic. Stay safe and stay connected with The Thaiger.
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Sponsored Infinito helps hotels in Thailand with revenue management
Maximising revenue and profit–isn’t that the ultimate goal for every business in the hospitality industry? If you run a hotel, you might have heard that revenue management is an effective way to boost your top-line revenue. It involves using data...
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Phuket prepares to welcome first Chinese tourists in over 6 months
The first group of tourists to arrive under Thailand’s new Special Tourist Visa scheme are expected to land in Phuket on October 8. The Bangkok Post reports that a flight from Guangzhou in southern China will carry 120 tourists, who will spend their first 14 days in alternative state quarantine. They are reported to be travelling under the government’s new…
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More categories of foreigners to be granted entry to Thailand
“…business people on a non-immigrant visa but without a work permit can enter, provided they can show savings of at least 500,000 baht over the previous 6 months.” The Thai government is expanding the groups of foreigners who can enter Thailand, after a meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration chaired by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday. CCSA spokesman Taweesin…
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22 new cases of Covid-19 detected in Thailand
The Thai government’s CCSA has reported another 22 new cases of Covid-19 this morning, raising the country’s total of infections to 3,545. The vast majority of these have recovered – 3,369. The death toll is unchanged at 59 people. The new cases have come from imported cases, returnees and visitors, and became apparent whilst they were in quarantine during routine tests. The…
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Thai medic cautions against reducing quarantine period for foreign tourists
On one side there is a push to re-open Thailand’s borders to re-start the beleaguered tourist industry. On the other hand Thai officials are try to keep Covid-19 contained and fear the re-opening of the borders. Even the suggestion to reduce the quarantine time from 14 to 7 days is not gaining support from health officials. Now, a doctor from…
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IATA proposes Covid testing before travelling to replace quarantine on arrival
The International Air Transport Association is proposing travellers to take a Covid test prior to departure to replace worldwide mandatory quarantines on arrival. The push comes after it announces that international travel is down by 92% this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As many countries are imposing mandatory quarantines that can be not only expensive but up to 14…
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Thai Red Cross says “stay vigilant” as Covid can be asymptomatic yet contagious
The Thai Red Cross Society has published a new infographic warning us to stay vigilant as Covid-19 can be asymptomatic but still able to spread to others. The novel coronavirus has been spreading despite carriers having little or no symptoms. The Thai Government PR Facebook page today reports 3 new confirmed cases from people on repatriation flights and in state…
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2 returnees in quarantine catch Covid-19 a second time
Health officials say 2 people in state quarantine tested positive for Covid-19, apparently catching the virus for a second time. A 42 year old Thai man recently tested positive for Covid-19 while in Chon Buri state quarantine after returning from Singapore. He first caught the virus a few months ago while in Singapore. He didn’t need hospital treatment and quarantined…
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Covid task force calls for extension to Thailand’s emergency decree
Thailand’s Covid-19 task force is advising the government to extend the country’s state of emergency by a further month… again. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration plans to discuss the matter next Tuesday and put it to Cabinet for consideration on Wednesday. The state of emergency, or emergency decree, which has been extended several times since its introduction in March,…
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Teen near the Thai-Myanmar border tests positive for Covid-19
A Burmese teenager who lives near the Thai-Myanmar border tested positive for Covid-19. Now, Thai border patrol officers are tightening security even more to make sure Myanmar’s outbreak doesn’t cross the border and cause a second wave in Thailand. The 17 year old Burmese boy tested positive for Covid-19 last week. Reports say the teen was in Myanmar’s Payatongsu district,…
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Struggling airlines to get reprieve through small loans, extension to fuel tax cut
Airlines in Thailand are being offered a financial lifeline, as the Government Savings Bank announces soft loans for carriers left struggling as a result of the current Covid-19 ‘disruption’. Nation Thailand reports that the GSB is offering the loans over a 60 month period, with an annual interest rate of 2%. Chairman Patchara Anuntasilpa says the proposal will shortly be…
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Phuket’s governor calls for help in restoring island’s economy
The governor of Phuket has likened the southern province to a “patient in a coma”, as he pleads for help to restore its devastated economy. According to a report in the Bangkok Post, Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew was addressing a Public Health Association forum, where he highlighted the economic crisis caused by the ongoing ban on international tourists. The island’s…
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1 new Covid-19 death, 7 new cases in quarantine
Thailand reported its first Covid-19 death since June, tallying up the death toll to 59. Health officials also report 7 new Covid-19 cases detected in quarantine. They say 1 person had the virus before. The 54 year old Mhad Mamin worked as a Thai translator at an embassy in Saudi Arabia. He came back to Thailand last month and tested positive…
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Despite special tourist visa approval, hoteliers remain skeptical about reopening
As news comes of the cabinet approving a special long-term tourist visa scheme, hoteliers are remaining skeptical about reopening due to the lack of clarity in the recent announcement, which will reportedly take effect next month. The president of the Thai Hotels Association’s southern chapter says more hoteliers will consider reopening if the government gives further information about the plan…
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Covid-19 mysteries still unsolved, health officials brush off risk of reopening borders
What’s the risk of spreading Covid-19 if borders are reopened? None apparently, just as long as tourists go through a 14 day quarantine when they enter the country, according to the Department of Disease Control. Long stay tourist visas were just approved by the Cabinet and the DDC deputy director general Tanarak Plipat says the move will not raise the…
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10 new Covid-19 cases detected in quarantine
10 new Covid-19 cases, including a 1 year old girl, were detected in Thailand state quarantine in the past 24 hours. Health officials say most of the cases are Thai nationals returning home. The travellers arrived to Thailand from Indonesia, India, Myanmar and Ethiopia. 8 cases are Thai nationals returning home. The others are an Ethiopian airline cabin crew member and…
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US Covid-19 deaths push past 200,000 people
New Covid-19 cases in the US increase continue to drop slightly as the nation pushes over 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Meanwhile, Pfizer’s CEO predicts it’s likely the US will deploy an effective vaccine before the end of the year, despite scientists saying the forecasts are ‘optimistic’ at best. CEO Albert Bourla maintained that it’s “likely” the US will have…
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148 test negative for Covid-19 in football player case
So far, 148 people who came in contact with the infected Buriram United football player from Uzbekistan have tested negative for Covid-19 during the second round of testing. The test results from nearly 300 other people “at risk” are still pending. The 29 year old Buriram United football player tested positive for Covid-19, health officials announced last week. The football…
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Lights are out on Ibiza – the world’s party islands go dark
“The party scene, by its nature, is all about getting together, dancing, celebrating ‘closeness’ and being social – the antithesis of social distancing and staying away from other people in the Covid-era.” Some of the world’s tourist islands are suffering badly from the lack of travel, it’s not just Bali and Phuket. The Spanish party island of Ibiza is also…
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Bangkok DJ infected with more contagious, less severe Covid-19 strain
The Bangkok DJ who recently tested positive for Covid-19 was infected by the G strain, a more contagious, but less severe strain, according to the Department of Medical Sciences director general Opas Karnkawinpong. The strain is mostly found in those returning to Thailand from abroad and detected in quarantine. The G strain isn’t as severe as L strain and the…
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Border police camps to be turned into quarantine centres
Border patrol police camps might be turned into quarantine bases for migrants workers employed through a labour program, but the government just needs the officers’ permission first. The plan would provide employers a cost efficient option for the mandatory 14 day quarantine and Covid-19 testing whilst allowing for migrants to return to work in Thailand since fleeing back to their…
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Covid-19 is capable of infecting the brain – Yale study
A new paper from a time at Yale University, Connecticut, in the US, says that headaches, confusion and delirium experienced by some Covid-19 patients may be the result of the coronavirus directly invading the brain. The preliminary research offers several some additional evidence to support earlier untested theories about long-term effects on some Covid-19 patients. The novel coronavirus not only targets…
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Airport officials deny French tourists were allowed to travel in Thailand
The general manager of Phuket International Airport denies reports that 2 French nationals were allowed to visit the country while its borders are shut to international tourists. Thanee Chuangchoo says the French visitors’ arrival was in accordance with all the usual Covid procedures, and that both spent their time in Thailand at a quarantine facility. “It’s just the same as…
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“Phuket Model” to be re-named, expanded to all of Thailand
A much-talked-about plan to reopen Phuket to international tourists is set for a rebrand and expansion. The plan, formerly known as the “Phuket Model”, is proposed to be re-named “Special Tourist Visa”, and will now cover all of Thailand. But, in its latest incarnation, the model will only allow tourists from “approved countries” to be involved. Apparently, the Phuket plan…
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Trials and tribulations 2. Returning to Thailand in the Covid era – a personal view
by guest writer David Jackson Part II in the series of articles from David who has been writing from his quarantine room. David waxes lyrical as even the tiniest moments seem larger than life in his 25 square metre cocoon… I begin writing this second article on Day 7 of my quarantine in a Bangkok hotel, so the sentence of…
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Trials of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine paused after participant falls ill
Late-stage trials of a promising-sounding Covid-19 vaccine have been put on hold while researchers check out the exact cause of illness in one participant. The vaccine, being developed by Oxford University in the UK, in partnership with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, was in phase 3 trials, involving 30,000 participants. Volunteers were drawn primarily from countries with high numbers of virus cases,…
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Phuket Airport prepares for eventual launch of tourist pilot project
Phuket Airport carried out a trial run yesterday, going over all the steps necessary to admit tourists under the much-discussed, not-yet-happening, off-and-on “Phuket Model”. The plan to use Phuket as a pilot, to test a limited return of international tourists, was set to launch in October but has now been postponed. The brakes were applied when Thailand recorded its first…
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Trials and tribulations of returning to Thailand in the Covid era – a personal view
A series of articles by David Jackson Sunday morning and I am sitting inside my viewless window in a Bangkok Hotel waiting in anticipation for a trip down to reception where, after five lonely days, I get to experience my first brief contact with a human – a nurse who will presumably force a swab up my nose. Welcome to…
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970 now tested as part of the investigation into the infected Bangkok DJ
3 of the bars where the 37 year old DJ, Thailand’s first locally transmitted Covid-19 case in 101 days, are said not to have observed basic preventions required in a workplace – temperature screening, wearing a face mask and social distancing. It’s also been revealed that the bars offered a “glass sharing” special menu as part of their promotions. The…
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Chinese official rules out return of China-Thailand tourism anytime soon
China is not yet ready to welcome international tourists, says a senior embassy official in Bangkok. Speaking to Nation Thailand, Yang Xin from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Thailand, says that, while domestic tourism has resumed in China, the country is not yet ready to open its borders to foreign tourists, nor is it encouraging its…
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Bringing Thai nationals home is a team effort
As the world ground to a crawl thanks to Covid-19, things began ramping up at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with staff working tirelessly to help Thai citizens abroad get back home. MFA staff are based both in Thailand and overseas and are tasked with assisting Thai nationals during emergencies such as natural disasters or indeed, a pandemic, wherever they…
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