Sealed route proposal for asymptomatic infected tourists gets lukewarm reception in Phuket

Phuket officials have responded less than enthusiastically to a suggestion that infected asymptomatic tourists be allowed to travel via a sealed route. Pichet Panapong, the province’s deputy governor, says he believes infected tourists should stay in their hotel rooms. According to a Bangkok Post report, he’s already said as much to the immigration chief who initially made the suggestion.

Pichet says there may be some leeway, in that asymptomatic tourists could travel to a quiet beach via a sealed route, for example, but the arrangement would need close monitoring – lest they wander off.

“For the proposed sealed route, if tourists need to go out, they may visit areas where there are no other people, like an empty beach, via a sealed route. But this arrangement must be supervised by a SHA Plus Manager. Some tourists with no symptoms might forget they are infected and visit markets or shopping malls. This is worrying. I think the best thing to do is to keep them isolated. A sealed route may be considered in some cases only.”

Meanwhile, the issue of tourists not wearing face masks has raised its head again. Pichet says many foreign tourists are violating the mask mandate and he’s vowed to take legal action against them. Governor Narong Woonciew has now spoken to the consuls of 22 countries, asking them to advise their citizens of the face mask rule.

In other news, Phuket has kicked off the administration of booster doses to around 3,000 migrant workers in the fisheries sector. The Bangkok Post reports that healthcare workers are administering the AstraZeneca vaccine at Phuket fishing pier.

The island has around 67,000 migrant labourers across various sectors. Pichet oversaw the booster rollout at the pier and thanked the workers for their cooperation with the island’s efforts to get Covid-19 under control.

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SOURCE: Bangkok Post