Chon Buri governor says Pattaya bars will stay closed for now, Covid cases remain high

With ongoing calls from Pattaya bar and nightclub owners to reopen, the Chon Buri governor recently addressed the business owners saying restrictions and disease control measures will stay the same for now as the province still has a number of Covid-19 cases, mostly clustered at markets, factories, construction sites, and migrant worker dormitories.

Governor Phakharathorn Tieanchai says many businesses in the entertainment and nightlife industries have been sending letters and even meeting with him in person, asking to reopen.

“Pattaya, in particular, has been hit hard by closures in the nightlife sector and we have heard the pleas of business owners loud and clear, but we simply cannot relax restrictions at this time with so many cases and a lack of vaccine supplies.”

The governor says they want everyone to have a job and income, adding that the issue will be carefully discussed over the next few weeks. But for now, as cases remain high in the province, with 142 new cases reported yesterday and more than 6,700 cases reported in the recent wave of infections, restrictions will stay the same for now.

“We will not ease more restrictions and measurements now. There are still many confirmed cases.”

Phakharathorn says most of the Covid-19 clusters in Chon Buri have been in crowded areas like markets, factories, construction sites, and migrant worker dormitories. Local health officials are rolling out active case finding campaigns to contain the virus as quickly as possible. Facilities with an outbreak are ordered to close within 2 days, the governor says. Most positive cases have been asymptomatic.

He also said that the government plans to only allow those who are vaccinated against the coronavirus to work at markets in Chon Buri.

“In the near future, we will be asking that only sellers who have been vaccinated will be allowed to work in local markets as they are such high-risk for the spread of Covid-19 but essential to the economy and peoples food source.”

So far in Chon Buri, around 1.17 million people have registered for a vaccine, but only 15% have been injected with at least 1 dose, the governor says. Phakharathorn adds that there has been a huge interest among the public for vaccines as many residents see it as a way to bring back tourism to the province. There’s a limited number of doses to keep up with the demand, but the governor says the problem should be fixed soon.

“Overall vaccine supply is still a major issue but should be resolved in the very near future. We are aware of the demand, including from foreign residents, but simply don’t yet have the supply we anticipated due to vaccines being sent to larger clusters of Covid-19 such as in Bangkok.”

SOURCE: Pattaya News