......att det går lite åt fel håll här nu och att många lystrar till de "åtdragna tumskruvarna". Jag har nyss varit ute och handlat. Märkbar reducerad trafik jämfört med tidigare veckodagar vid samma tidpunkt. Under våren/sommaren så fanns alltid en anställd på plats vid ingången till affären, banken etc för att ta ta temperaturen och säkerställa att man registrerade sig via en speciell APP eller med sitt telefonnummer och bar munskydd. Under sensommaren/hösten togs den anställde bort och en automatisk temperaturtagare fanns på plats och man litade på att folk använde den och registrerade sig av ren självbevarelsedrift. Efter helgens införande av strängare restriktioner och regler så var man på hugget nu på morgonen och en anställd är åter på plats för att säkerställa att reglerna följs. MYCKET BRA !!! Dessutom - vem vill riskera att böta THB 20.000 för att man inte bär munskydd ? Hade detta varit i Sverige så hade väl tramset "jag känner mig kränkt" tagit fart!!!
CONFIRMED: Increased restrictions for 28 provinces now approved by PM
A new set of measures in 28 provinces in Thailand aimed at containing the new wave of coronavirus infections are now in effect after being approved by the Prime Minister and published in the Royal Gazette late on Sunday.
The measures include restrictions on cross provincial travel, the closure of schools and educational institutions and a ban on serving alcohol in restaurants. Buildings or premises that are deemed high risk of spreading the virus, such as fitness centres or spas, will also have to close.
People who live in the 28 provinces (listed below) now deemed 'red zones' are advised to not travel to other provinces unless absolutely necessary. Anyone travelling across provinces must show proof of why they are travelling.
Bars and pubs are ordered to close, restaurants can remain open but are not allowed to serve alcohol.
Businesses must tell staff to work from home, where possible, alternatively they can ask staff to work staggered hours or alternative days.
It is not immediately clear if beaches can remain open.
The new measures also give provincial governors the power to impose their own restrictions and can close any premises or businesses that they deem necessary to help prevent the spread of the virus. Therefore, the restrictions may differ slightly from province to province.
However, shopping malls, markets, supermarkets and community malls can remain open but strict screening and disease control measures must be in place.
Provinces now in the highly controlled' (red) zone:
Ang Thong, Ayutthaya, Bangkok, Chachoengsao, Chanthaburi, Chonburi, Chumphon, Kanchanaburi, Lopburi, Nakhon Nayok, Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phetchaburi, Prachinburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ranong, Ratchaburi, Rayong, Sakeao, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram, Saraburi, Singburi, Suphanburi, Tak and Trat.
New COVID-19 restrictions summary
No cross provincial travel unless absolutely necessary
Schools closed
Bars, pubs closed
Venues at risk of spreading virus - gyms, spas etc closed
Restaurants can open for dine in, but not allowed to serve alcohol
Work from home where possible
Shopping malls, supermarkets can remain open
Immigration offices remain open
Provincial governors can also impose their own restrictions
This is a developing news story. This post may be updated without notice
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration officials check the body temperatures of passengers on an interprovincial bus in Bang Na district for a Covid-19 test as the BMA strictly screens people entering the capital. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has issued a set of new restrictions taking effect on Monday in the wake of a new surge of the coronavirus, though customers are not banned from eating in restaurants and weddings are still allowed under certain conditions.
The directives, signed by Gen Prayut as director of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), were announced in the Royal Gazette on Sunday. The new restrictions will be applied to 28 red zone provinces including Bangkok. The 28 red zone provinces were officially announced in the Royal Gazette on Sunday.
According to the announcement, a ban is imposed on the use of buildings at schools and educational institutes in red zone areas with maximum controls to be imposed for teaching and learning or activities likely to draw a crowd, except for online learning, charities, public services with permission from provincial governors, small schools with no more than 120 students, and border patrol police schools.
Activities which could transmit the virus in red zones, such as meetings, seminars, banquets, and food handouts are forbidden, except where they are carried out or permitted by authorities or they take place in quarantine facilities.
Bangkok and provincial governors are authorised to close pubs, bars and karaoke outlets in red zones. The new restrictions do not ban customers from dining in eateries, however, though the number of sit-in patrons must be limited. Alcohol consumption is not allowed inside eateries.
In the announcement, the CCSA, the Interior Ministry, and the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre will jointly consider guidelines and ensure the restrictions are properly followed in each province.
According to the announcement, shopping malls, department stores, community malls, convention and exhibition halls, convenience stores, supermarkets, and other similar places are still allowed to operate under strict disease control measures.
Bangkok and provincial governors have the authority to close premises, and impose restrictions in areas, premises, or on the use of vehicles or ban activities, apart from those announced by the CCSA.
Authorities will screen people who travel between provinces particularly from red zone provinces, while those who must travel to other provinces must show evidence of why they are going and undergo health screening.
Private companies are also urged to come up with work from home arrangements for employees or stagger hours to reduce the risk of transmission. The CCSA's panel on the easing of Covid-19 restrictions is responsible for considering relaxations or more restrictions as they see fit.
Earlier on Sunday, CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said the government plans to show some flexibility in imposing the new restrictions to take effect today.
The CCSA had reviewed restrictions based on the situation in various provinces, Dr Taweeslip said. "Some changes were made before being presented for approval by the prime minister,'' he said.
"We have toned down our previous plan," the spokesman said, explaining the CCSA decided not to enforce a national lockdown because of the devastation it would cause to businesses and the wider economy. "We will not lock down the country because there is an economic cost to pay and everybody will suffer," he said. The CCSA has left room for provincial governors, including the Bangkok governor, to impose tougher restrictions beyond the new measures.
Governors serve as the chairmen of each provincial communicable disease committee. "They cannot weaken the CCSA measures but they can add more restrictions," he said.
Meanwhile, the CCSA confirmed 315 new coronavirus cases, taking the accumulated total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 7,694. No new deaths were reported, leaving fatalities at 64. The CCSA said 294 of the 315 new cases were locally transmitted. Of the 294 local cases, 274 were Thais and 20 migrant workers, 17 in Samut Sakhon and three in Nonthaburi.
The greatest number of newly infected Thais were Chanthaburi (68), Chon Buri (62), Rayong (43), Samut Sakhon (38 -- excluding 17 migrant workers), and Bangkok (19).
Health officials check the body temperature of visitors from China arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport from Shanghai on Oct 21, 2020. (Photo by Somchai Poomlard)
The Ministry of Public Health will ask the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to defer the entry of British visitors to the country after the fast-spreading B117 strain of Covid-19 was found in four British nationals entering Thailand on Dec 21.
Department of Disease Control chief Opas Karnkawinpong said on Sunday all passengers who were on board the same flight as the four and anyone who had come into contact with them had been located, tested and found to be clear of the virus.
Dr Opas urged the public not to panic as Thailand is familiar with he fast-spreading Covid-19 strain -- known as G-strain -- found in Myanmar migrant workers. "B117 is similar to the G-strain from Myanmar in terms of it being fast-spreading," Dr Opas said.
The four English patients are family members -- parents and two children -- from Kent. They have been placed in a hospital's negative pressure room to prevent transmission and will not be released until medical officials test and clear them of Covid-19 risk, said Dr Yong Poovorawan, a chief at the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Medicine.
The centre has been collecting genetic data from Covid-19 patients for research, according to Dr Yong -- one of the country's top virologists -- who reported that the genetic variants found in the four patients are of the B117 strain which has spread rapidly in the UK recently.
Dr Yong wrote on his Facebook page that Thais do not need to be alarmed but warned the authority must pay more attention to English visitors.
It was reported that Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease Covid-19, mutates regularly.
For B117, mutations that affect the "spike protein" on the virus surface attach to human cells faster, Dr Yong wrote.
B117 has already been found in several countries, including a few in Asia, including Singapore and Taiwan, a country with very low infection cases.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Health insisted it would not ban the private sector from importing Covid-19 vaccines but insisted the vaccines must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Department of Medical Science director-general Supakit Sirilak said all imported vaccines must gain departmental approval to protect the safety of consumers.
Chonburi public health office announces 62 new confirmed local cases of Covid-19 Coronavirus
Chonburi –
Chonburi provincial public health authorities announced 62 new confirmed local transmission cases of Covid-19 in the province this afternoon, January 3rd.
As of today, the accumulative confirmed cases in this new cluster of infections has now reached 305 patients with one death.
A total of 50 Covid-19 infected patients were discovered in the Si Racha district, seven patients are in Banglamung, two each in Mueang district and Ban Bueang district, and one near the Rayong border.
All of them are under disease investigation by public health officials. About 5,922 risk people related to the confirmed patients are also quarantined under official supervision. Among them, 4,551 people were proved negative while the other 1,371 are waiting for the results.
All Eyes on Prayut as Covid-19 Barrels Toward Uncontrolled Spread in Thailand
Thailand's second-wave coronavirus outbreak slid closer to uncontrolled-transmission status Sunday with the announcement of a second-worst 315 daily cases with contact tracers only able to track the source of 27 of those infections.
New Year's travel plus the meteoric rise in cases since Dec. 16 has put strain on even the country's vaunted million-strong army of village health volunteers to track cases, the key to "breaking the chain" of infections and ending the outbreak. Once the roots of new clusters can't be traced, the virus is deemed to be uncontrollably, setting up the government to impose the harshest lockdown measures to flatten the curve of infections.
Thailand isn't there yet and Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin said Sunday that the agency is backing off earlier proposals to shut down dine-in eating at restaurants and travel restrictions at the national level and give provincial governors more power to implement more-targeted, local shutdowns.
Taweesin admitted the CCSA is loathe to call its efforts to quash the new outbreak a "lockdown" as that carries serious psychological consequences on the public and requires the government to provide costly compensation for workers put out of work by government action.
"We learned our lesson (from the first lockdown) that the use of strict measures across the country only affects innocent people," Taweesin said. "Those who disobey the laws continue to do so. We will not let innocent people hurt again."
All eyes are now on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is expected by Monday to decide on exactly which of the many CCSA and Public Health Ministry recommendations he will impose.
The CCSA reclassified 28 hard-hit provinces as "highly controlled areas" and proposed that they be subjected to the most-stringent controls that would discourage – but no ban – all non-essential interprovincial travel, encourage working from home, the move to online schooling, the closing of additional "high-risk" businesses and limiting hours of those allowed to remain open, such as shopping malls. Restaurants would have to close their dining rooms and alcohol could only be sold in retail stores and consumed at home.
The Public Health Ministry on Saturday went further, suggesting a hard lockdown of Chonburi, Rayong and Chanthaburi provinces, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving the hot zone without government permission, with army troops and police barricading highways and local roads.
Taweesin on Sunday toned down the tough talk, saying the CCSA has dropped the idea to banning dine-in restaurants across all the 28 "red zone" provinces, allowing governors to decide the issue. As for travel restrictions, the agency right now only is "seeking cooperation" from motorists to postpone interprovincial journeys tht aren't absolutely necessary.
Bangkok, Rayong, Chonburi, Samut Sakhon, Panthum Thani and Samut Songkhram already have imposed the same or similar measures as the CCSA's "Level 1" restrictions for the 28 high-risk provinces. Taweesin acknowledged that more provincial governors may do the same, even if the CCSA wasn't recommending it.
"Each province has its own problems, such as Tak, which faces illegal border crossings, or Rayong, which is dealing with gambling dens," Taweesin said. "Local governments have a better understanding of the local risk."
Since Dec. 16, the outbreak has seen provinces reporting Covid-19 cases jump from 16 to 53. Sunday, Chanthaburi and Chonburi reported the most cases, with 68 and 62, respectively.
Samut Sakhon followed with 56 cases – 18 among migrant workers in market dormitories – then Rayong with 43, Bangkok with 19 and Trat with 12. The rest of the cases were found in Ang Thong (9) Samut Prakan (8), Ratchaburi (5), Nonthaburi (five with two in a migrant dormitory), Chiang Mai (2), Lampang (2), Samut Songkhram (1), Kanchanaburi (1) and Amnat Charoen (1).
Also included in the tally were 21 overseas returnees already in quarantine. Most notable among these were the first known cases of the new, more-contagious variant of the coronavirus called B.1.1.7.
The mutation was found in a family of four British nationals who arrived in Thailand from the United Kingdom and are now in an isolation ward of a private hospital.
The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 7,694 – 5,650 of which were contracted domestically, including 1,440 migrant workers and 2,044 returnees. So far, 4,337 have recovered and been discharged, while 64 have died.
More worrisome, however, is the growing number of cases that cannot be traced. Of Sunday's 294 locally transmitted cases, only 37 can be traced back to the outbreaks in Rayong or Samut Sakhon.
"Unless we work together to fight the virus, we will continue to see a spike in cases like countries abroad," Taweesin said. "Based on the numbers that we are seeing right now, this battle is bigger and more severe than the previous one."
New strain of Covid-19 from UK found in four Britons in quarantine
An expert virologist at Chulalongkorn University has said that the mutant coronavirus in the United Kingdom has now been found in Thailand.
Dr Yong Poovorawan said in a Facebook post on January 3 that the Centre for Specialisation in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine in Chulalongkorn University had decoded the strain of the virus and found a UK coronavirus mutant, also known as B.1.1.7 mutant.
The virus was obtained from a British family of four from Kent, England. They were isolated in an alternative state quarantine hotel under a private hospital care, to ensure the virus does not spread.
Genetic decoding shows that this British mutated virus, which is viewed warily all over the world and has led to suspension of flights from the UK, have two genetic transcripts -- mutations at the human cell receptor-binding domain (N501Y), mutation in the spike protein (P681H), spike 69-70 deletion, and other positions.
This strain made the transmission easier and spread rapidly in this family, infecting all four people.
However, this strain will not aggravate the disease in Thailand and is not related to vaccine efficacy. The four British patients are under close watch in controlled conditions, to prevent the virus from spreading. The patients are still in a negative pressure room to ensure they come out without infection.
He added that Thai people should stay assured that the virus has not yet had a chance to spread in the country.
The Department of Disease Control provides English COVID-19 information updates and situation reports daily at https://covid19.th-stat.com/en. On this website, visitors can also
check the number of infected person in each province by clicking on the map of Thailand. In addition, there is information about risk levels and recommendations for self-assessment during the pandemic, the number of cases, and the number of people in state quarantine.
Pattaya, East Sealed Off for 28 Days Under Health Ministry Proposal
Chonburi, Rayong, Chanthaburi Residents Would Be Blocked From Leaving Without Gov't Permission
North Road in Pattaya on Saturday night at 10:15 p.m.
Pattaya and three eastern provinces should be sealed off, with no one able to enter or leave without government permission, Thailand's Public Health Ministry suggested Saturday, unveiling its latest plan to combat the East's exploding coronavirus outbreak.
Going beyond a quasi-lockdown of 28 "red zone" already submitted for approval by the Center for Covid-19, the proposal outlined Saturday by Deputy Health Minister Satit Pitutacha would impose hard travel limits on Chonburi, Rayong and Chanthaburi residents for 28 days because, basically, they lie, he said.
Satit asserted that 99 percent of the hundreds of Covid-19 cases that have emerged over the past week all are tied to illegal casinos in Rayong and Chanthaburi, with infected gamblers and lying to contact tracers and failing to divulge their true movements out of fear of being prosecuted.
That has crippled contact-tracing efforts and fueled the outbreak spreading across the East and into other areas of Thailand. A woman found infected in Ayutthaya on Friday, for example, had just arrived from Pattaya.
Speaking at a news conference at a newly converted field hospital at the Marine Corps headquarters in Chonburi's Sattahip District, Satit said, if the plan is approved, police or the army would block highways at the borders of each of the three provinces while local police would restrict access on surface streets.
That plan, called "Level 1" restrictions, would discourage – but no ban – all non-essential interprovincial travel, working from home, the move to online schooling, the closing of additional "high-risk" businesses and limiting hours of those allowed to remain open, such as shopping malls. Dine-in service at restaurants would be banned.
Satit's proposal skips right over Level 1 and moves to the CCSA's vaguely defined "Level 2" which calls for hard travel restrictions, along with further business closures and even a curfew.
He speculated it could come into effect by the end of next week.
While the ministry's plan is just a suggestion, it's likely to spark panic in the provinces and mass exodus of people out of the East back to their home provinces, further spreading the virus. Critics said it would have been better to announce such a drastic lockdown without giving people days of warning.
This story was written by Herald staff for the Pattaya Mail, a Bangkok Herald partner.
A market in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan is closed on Saturday as the province tries to contain the surge of new Covid-19 cases. (Photo by Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has declared stricter measures for 28 "red zone" provinces amid rising cases of the Covid-19 across the country while Bangkok has closed 25 types of businesses to contain the re-emerging spread of Covid-19.
Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang signed an order on Friday to temporarily close types of businesses with gatherings of many people. The affected places are entertainment venues such as pubs, bars and similar places; water parks and amusement parks; playgrounds; places where children play at markets; and floating markets and flea markets.
Eateries, convenience stores, food stalls or hawkers, restaurants and food centres may not allow alcohol consumption.
Barbershops or hairdressers must limit service time per customer to two hours and not allow customers to wait in their shops.
Schools run by the BMA were ordered to close for two weeks.
In addition to the BMA's latest order is the setting up of 14 checkpoints on in-bound roads to screen people returning home from their holiday.
The checkpoints are on major roads connected to other provinces. These roads are used by inter-provincial buses returning to the capital from Chaeng Wattana, Vibhavadi Rangsit, Suwinthawong and Bang Na-Trat.
Bangkok is among the 28 provinces declared as a red zone by the CCSA. Other provinces include Tak, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya, Saraburi and Lop Buri.
CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said the CCSA and the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) agreed on the stricter controls following a rise in local infections. The restrictions will be effective from tomorrow until Feb 1.
Apart from the rising number of cases, new infections were still detected among migrant workers with clusters in Bangkok spreading to many areas, Dr Taweesilp said.
The heightened restrictions, which will be proposed to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for approval tomorrow, are divided into two tiers, Dr Taweesilp said.
The first tier limits the operating hours of businesses, closes at-risk ones, searches and arrests people who gather illegally, discourages inter-provincial travel, closes academic institutions, and encourages work from home across the red zones, he said.
Other measures in the first tier include travel restrictions for people who come from the red zones, urgent active case finding and disease investigation.
If the first tier is unsuccessful in controlling the virus, second-tier measures will be introduced, Dr Taweesilp said.
In the second tier, the restriction on operating hours will be expanded to more businesses and some types of businesses will be closed. Gatherings of many people will be prohibited.
A curfew will be among second-tier measures. The curfew timeframe has not yet been established.
The CCSA spokesman insisted that dining in at restaurants is still allowed for now and there was no need to hoard goods at this stage.
If a dine-in ban was issued, the CCSA would ensure restaurants have time to prepare, he said.
The CCSA on Saturday reported 216 new cases with one more death, bringing the total to 7,379 cases and 64 fatalities. It said 214 were local infections.
RED ALERT FOR WORST-HIT PROVINCES: Twenty-eight provinces across the country will be designated "maximum control zones" in the wake of the fresh Covid-19 outbreak that has spread to 53 provinces, with two each being placed into one of two tiers depending on the severity of the situation (Bangkok Post) #Thailand
