Phuket, Nakhon Ratchasima Report New Cases of COVID-19

The virus continues to spread past Bangkok and into other provinces, as Phuket and Nakhon Ratchasima report new cases of infection today in the wake of a widespread closure order that will shut down 41 provinces.

According to the provincial public health committee of Phuket, 16 new cases have been detected that are linked to the entertainment venue clusters in the capital, Bangkok. According to Deputy Governor Vikrom Jakthee, they have been able to contain the spread within Phuket successfully although he acknowledged the presence of a new outbreak in the capital.

He also said that Phuket is showing signs of herd immunity, which they would need to achieve before the province fully reopens to foreign tourism in July.

The Phuket Sandbox project require the province to lift the mandatory 14-day quarantine beginning July 1. After the next three months, five other provinces with value for tourism are scheduled to waive the mandatory quarantine for their visitors as well.

Deputy Governor Vikrom also mentioned that the provincial communicable disease control committee will invite entertainment venue operators in Phuket to discuss the situation.

Phuket now has 26 cases of COVID-19 infections linked to the Bangkok clusters, with the province reporting only 10 cases on Friday.

The same situation is also observed in the province of Nakhon Ratchasima, where 11 new cases of infection have been reported on Friday morning. According to the province’s communicable disease control committee, majority of these cases are linked to entertainment venues in Bangkok and Chon Buri.

Dr. Narinrat Pitchayakhamin said that they are still working on establishing the timelines of the 11 new cases, while the six cases previously announced on Thursday have already been contact-traced.

According to Dr. Narinrat, five of the six initial cases lived in Muang District while the remaining case is a resident of the Pak Thong Chai district.

The health official confirmed that four of these cases are directly linked to the Bangkok nightspot cluster, while the last two contracted the virus from another confirmed case in Nonthaburi.

In response to the situation, Nakhon Ratchasima governor Wichian Chantaranothai had ordered people who arrive in the province from Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom to make an appearance before their community leaders or to public health volunteers.

They are to do this within 12 hours of arriving in the province. In addition, they are disallowed from visiting open places like shopping malls, tourist sites, entertainment places and markets. Should they insist, the governor said that they will be subjected to legal action.

Today, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration said that there have been 559 new cases within the past 24 hours.

549 of the cases were local transmission, while 10 were arrivals from abroad.

The CCSA also reported that a 60-year-old inmate at a prison in Narathiwat had died from COVID-19. The man also suffered from tuberculosis and was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on April 1. He also showed symptoms like fatigue, dyspnea, and insomnia beginning March 31.

He was hooked up to a ventilator until his death yesterday, April 8.

Sources:
BangkokPost
BangkokPost
Bangkokpost