The government will block all travel to Thailand, including by Thais, for half a month to prepare “state quarantine” facilities after more local patients have been linked to imported cases, Bangkok Post reported on Thursday.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government needs time to properly prepare for state quarantine.
“Related agencies will in the meantime prepare the places and coordinate with Thai embassies to ensure all Thais returning home will be quarantined and get proper medical checks,” he said.
Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman of the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said on Thursday that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the centre that arrivals by foreigners and Thais would have to be slowed down “to stop the disease”.
“If the number of arrivals does not drop, people in our country will be infected,” he said.
The new measure started immediately on Thursday and will continue until April 15. It will not apply to people who earlier sought permission to travel to Thailand, he said.
Affected Thai people should contact Thai embassies and followed their instructions, he said.
Dr Taweesin said recent arrivals had proved to be a major source of local infections. The cases included the infected Thai man who had visited Pakistan and died on a south-bound train in Prachuab Khiri Khan province.
He also cited six Thais who returned from meetings in Italy, four of whom tested positive. The cases led to the quarantine of 50 other people.
Read more at Bangkok Post
Photo: Reuters