Thailand’s tally of coronavirus infections continues to ramp upward with an additional 188 reported today by health officials.
Since it became the first nation outside of China to detect the virus, officials have now announced 599 infections. Nearly nine in 10 of those have been announced in the past week. Prior to one week ago, the public was told only 82 people had become ill, with one fatality.
Sweeping closures of most non-essential businesses including shopping malls and markets went into effect today.
All but one of the past eight days has brought a new high in reported infections. It’s difficult to know how much it reflects expansion of the disease vs. testing. Whereas most had been in the capital, an expanding number of cases are in outlying provinces.
Malaysia is now the only ASEAN nation to report more deaths than Thailand, though official reports only reflect a combination of extent of testing and transparency of governments. The virus is almost certain to be ravaging Laos and Myanmar, despite their insistence that they have no cases. Singapore reported its first two deaths yesterday.
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