Another rise in detected COVID-19 cases today was attributed to the return of Thais from abroad.
Health officials reported 11 new infections, the most since May 4, found in travelers quarantined upon arrival from India, Qatar and Kuwait. Five were male masseurs back from Qatar, while remainders consisted of four migrant workers from Kuwait and two women.
Worried by reports of fewer Thais wearing facemasks, COVID task force spokesman Taweeslip Wisanuyothin said the public must remain vigilant despite there being few to no detected cases of local transmission in recent days.
Though a final decision on what businesses can reopen next has not been reached, he suggested that those in shopping malls stand a good chance of being included because such venues have a good record of cooperating. He also hinted that more sport venues could be coming back online in the next phase.
“These businesses improve people’s health, that’s why it matters,” Taweesilp said.
No specific date has been given for when the next phase of relaxed measures will come, but the spokesman said that all businesses would need to register and use the “Thailand Wins” government tracking system.
Polawat Withunkonlachit of the tech ministry said Thailand Wins would be out as an Android smartphone application this afternoon with an IOS version to follow this weekend. It will only be in Thai at launch.
Cautioning against rampant scams targeting consumers via bogus SMS messages, he insisted that no download links would be sent that way.
Massage parlors, boxing stadiums, theaters and even bars have been floated as possible candidates for the next two phases of reopening the economy but no decisions have been made public.
As for talk of pushing the overnight curfew’s start time back another hour to midnight, Taweeslip said that hadn’t been finalized yet.
Today’s report brought the kingdom’s total confirmed infections to 3,065 since the outbreak began in January. Fatalities attributed to the coronavirus remained at 57.
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Rise in new COVID cases attributed to Thai returnees
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