Year-end festivals and parties will still be allowed by health officials after the shut down of a major music festival this past weekend sent jitters through organizers.
New Year’s events will be allowed because there have not been cases of local transmission of the coronavirus, COVID-19 task force spokesperson Taweesilp Wissanuyothin said today, though organizers and attendees will have to strictly follow public health measures.
Taweesilp said that those who want to host New Year’s events should limit attendees to 50% of venue capacity and “split them up into small groups” in different zones. Each person should have at least one square meter of space from each other and wear masks at all times. If they exceed 1,000 participants, they must present their plans to the authorities.
Needless to say, those measures are already widely flaunted nightly at nightlife venues throughout the nation.
Taweesilp also put to rest fears of a fresh outbreak stemming from an exodus of infected sex workers from Myanmar in recent weeks. He said that although 65 people who escaped back into Thailand were found to have COVID-19, only two people had subsequently been infected and the situation was now under control.
Event organizers had been worried after health officials shut down the Big Mountain Music Festival in Khao Yai on Sunday before it was to end. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and health officials insist it was due to violations of pandemic control measures and not at all about the open shows of defiance to his government and support for the pro-democracy movement.
Health officials today announced 20 new cases, all of which were found in people quarantining upon arrival from abroad. They’ve logged 4,281 infected cases since the pandemic started in January. The death toll has stood at 60 since last month.
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