Another 300 hotel quarantine rooms set aside for infected tourists in Phuket
As Covid-19 infections continue to rise in Phuket, the southern island is creating more self-isolation facilities for infected foreign tourists. According to a Nation Thailand report, cases are surging on the island, with new infection numbers rising from 238 last Wednesday to 742 on Sunday.
Most infections are cases of local transmission, but infections are being reported in sandbox tourists and those arriving through the now-suspended Test & Go system too. Around 1% of foreign tourists are testing positive on arrival, while 4% are found to be infected after the second test.
Meanwhile, the Phuket Tourism Association says a number of foreign tourists have to wait for insurance claims or alternative quarantine accommodation after receiving a positive test, adding that many don’t have the funds to do so.
The PTA says that in order to help infected foreign visitors, it has created the Travellers Communication Isolation centre. As part of this, Phuket will today open 300 isolation rooms at 3 hotels on the island. Nation Thailand reports that Phuket’s Communicable Disease Committee has already told Phuket hotels to set aside 5% of their rooms as isolation accommodation for guests who test positive for the virus.
Despite the rise in infections, Phuket remains popular as a tourist destination, with the PTA saying the island is currently receiving over 4,000 applications a day through the Thailand Pass system. Most visitors are from Germany, Russia, the UK, US, and France.
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SOURCE: Nation Thailand
