BANGKOK, Jul 17 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand has imposed a nationwide ban on public gatherings and is considering more restrictions on movement, as authorities reported record numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths today, despite partial lockdowns in Bangkok and nine other provinces this week.
The country’s COVID-19 task force reported 10,082 new cases and 141 new deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 391,989 cases, and 3,240 fatalities.
Last Thursday, authorities were quoted as saying that, the Delta variant now makes up nearly 80 percent of the country’s caseload.
A ban on public gatherings has been imposed, with a maximum penalty of a two-year jail term or a fine of up to 40,000 Thai baht ($1,219.88) or both, an announcement on the official Royal Gazette published late yesterday showed.
Today, The Bangkok Post reported that Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, instructed the military and police to help officials of the capital city, in the deployment of 200 teams that would carry out door-to-door testing in the worst-hit parts of the city.
The move is aimed at “finding and isolating infected people to curb soaring transmissions,” The Post reported.
Yrsterday, Prayuth said that the government is considering more restrictions, as the country battles its worst outbreak yet, fuelled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta COVID-19 variants since early Apr.
“There’s a need to expand measures to limit people’s movement as much as possible, and closing more facilities, leaving only the essentials,” Prayuth wrote on his official Facebook page.– NNN-TNA
