First Sandbox flight from Hong Kong lands in Phuket

Cathay Pacific flight CX771 from Hong Kong landed at Phuket International Airport at 10:40 am to be greeted by water cannons and the passengers disembarked to receive a warm welcome by Airports of Thailand (AoT) staff and the officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Present to welcome the arrivals were Phuket International Airport Director Thanee Chuangchoo, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office Director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, and Cathay Pacific Airline Phuket office Chief Amonsak Rungruangsri.

According to the latest Phuket Sandbox Daily Report issued by the TAT for August 9, 18,654 people have arrived in Phuket under the scheme since July 1. Among those, 52 have tested positive for COVID-19.

The 52 infected arrivals included 27 who tested positive after landing at the airport, 14 tested positive in their second mandatory test conducted after a week on the island, and two who tested positive after nearly two weeks on the island, and the remaining nine were people who were considered high-risk contacts who later tested positive while staying at a local quarantine venue.

According to the report, a total of 353,529 room nights have been booked under the Sandbox scheme. Of those, 190,843 (53%) were for July; 143,566 (40%) were for August; 19,120 (5%) were for September; and 9,797 (3%) were for October to February.

Source: Phuket News