Update: Bangkok’s bars, pubs and karaoke parlors must only operate as restaurants and close by midnight starting Tuesday, City Hall announced Monday night. It was not explicitly stated whether that meant no alcohol sales as was the case in March. Race tracks, cockfighting arenas and similar establishments must also close. The order is in effect until Jan. 5.
The second wave of COVID-19 infections hitting Thailand claimed its first known victim this afternoon, a middle-aged man who worked at a gambling den in the province of Rayong.
The man’s death was announced at about 5pm by Deputy Public Health Minister Satit Pituthecha, making for the first pandemic-related fatality since November. The 45 year-old man, who worked at a gambling den local officials insist didn’t exist, became Thailand’s 61st fatality relatively quickly after becoming ill due to underlying conditions of asthma and diabetes. Satit said he died en route to a hospital this evening.
Rayong is currently the only other province beside Samut Sakhon, where the outbreak was first detected, to be considered at high risk. Nearly 100 were infected at the gambling den, though the provincial governor and other officials swear no such places exist – because they are illegal.
Few other details were immediately available. The last death attributed to COVID-19 was a 66-year-old retired government worker returned from the United Kingdom who died Nov. 6.
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