Thailand expands lockdown areas as COVID-19 cases surge

BANGKOK - The Thai government on Sunday announced plans for a tighter lockdown in Bangkok and high-risk provinces next week, suspending most domestic flights and expanding curfew areas after the country reported a third straight day of record COVID-19 case numbers.

Thailand reported 11,397 infections and 101 deaths on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 403,386 cases and 3,341 fatalities, the vast majority from an outbreak since early April that is being fuelled by the highly transmissible Alpha and Delta COVID-19 variants.

Domestic flights to and from Bangkok and other provinces classified by the Thai government as at high risk from COVID-19 will be suspended from Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said in an announcement.

Exceptions are being made for medical flights, emergency landing aircraft and flights in connection with the government's tourism reopening programs, while other local flights can only fly at 50% capacity, the announcement said.

Tougher measures designed to keep people in high risk areas mostly at home will be introduced from Tuesday, said General Nattapon Nakpanich, the chief of National Security Council, but supermarkets, banks, hospitals and medical clinics will still be allowed to open.

Shopping malls will be closed and a 9 p.m.-4 a.m. curfew will be imposed from Tuesday onwards in Chonburi, Ayutthaya and Chachoengsao provinces, an announcement on the official Royal Gazette on Sunday showed.

Bangkok and nine other provinces have already been under these restrictions, the toughest in more than a year, since last Monday, as the country battles its longest-running and most severe outbreak so far.

Thai health authorities said they were stepping up efforts to secure more vaccines to fight the latest outbreak, with a deal for 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccines to be concluded on Monday and an order for 50 million more doses under consideration, said the director-general of the Department of Disease Control Opas Karnkawinpong.

Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul also plans to seek approval from the country's COVID-19 task force to temporarily regulate the export amount of locally manufactured AstraZeneca vaccines as a way to shore up COVID-19 vaccine supplies, but he gave no details about quotas, several local media reported.

Thailand has been producing the AstraZeneca vaccine since June and is slated to export it to several other countries in Southeast Asia as well as Taiwan.

When the idea was earlier raised by the government, AstraZeneca said the Thai production facility "is of critical importance" to the region and the company is working with the Thai and other governments to "continue to deliver equitable vaccine access to the region."

Thailand's vaccine rollout, which has depended on the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, began in June. So far about 5% of the 66 million population have been doubly vaccinated. 

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Kim Coghill, Edmund Klamann and Hugh Lawson)

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Thailand approves self-tests, self-isolation as COVID-19 cases climb

BANGKOK - Thailand has given the go-ahead for home isolation of coronavirus patients with mild symptoms and use of home self-test kits, as a stubborn coronavirus outbreak puts pressure on its capital's health-care and testing capacity.

Thailand has so far been predominantly using RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests but long queues at testing facilities in Bangkok, the epicenter, have caused a rethink of measures to track infections.

The rapid antigen test kits, the approval of which was announced in the official Royal Gazette on Tuesday, should be available in stores next week.

A Food and Drug Administration official said efforts were being made to keep the price of the kits, which are less accurate than RT-PCR tests, at around 100 baht ($3.06).

Authorities also approved home and community isolation for asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic coronavirus cases, as daily infections of more than 9,000 stretch resources.

Thailand recorded 8,685 infections and 56 deaths on Tuesday, among the 353,712 cases and 2,847 fatalities overall, most of which have been since early April.

The outbreak was initially fueled by the Alpha variant but 57 percent of recent cases in Bangkok have been the highly contagious Delta variant, officials say.

Thailand has also reported 7 cases of suspected mixed infection with the 2 variants at a Bangkok construction site. 

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Thailand to test over 10,000 people after record COVID-19 surge

BANGKOK - Thailand plans to test more than 10,000 people after a record daily surge in coronavirus cases to over 500, most of which were among migrant workers linked to a shrimp market near the capital, an official said on Sunday.

By Wednesday the authorities aim to conduct 10,300 tests in the southwest province of Samut Sakhon, where the outbreak appeared, and such nearby provinces as Samut Songkhram and Nakhon Pathom, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for Thailand's COVID-19 taskforce, told a news conference.

"Active case findings will continue in several provinces, actually across the country," he said.

Thailand, the first country outside China to report coronavirus infections, has largely kept the outbreak under control with 4,907 cases and 60 deaths.

On Sunday, Thailand confirmed 576 new infections, including 516 migrant worker cases announced locally the day before.

The new cases include 19 locally transmitted cases in Bangkok and in Samut Sakhon province, where the 516 infections were also found. All of them were linked to the shrimp market in Samut Sakhon. There were also 41 imported cases.

Most of the migrant workers in Samut Sakhon are from Myanmar, which has suffered a far worse outbreak than Thailand, where health authorities credit early action with limiting the spread of the virus.

Other Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore and Malaysia, have also reported thousands of cases among migrant workers.

The surge in cases in Thailand comes just as it is seeking to revive a tourist industry devastated by the pandemic. On Thursday, it eased restrictions to allow more foreign tourists to return.

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Thailand ends curfew, marks 21 days with no local coronavirus cases

BANGKOK - Thailand on Monday lifted a nationwide curfew after more than two months and allowed restaurants to resume selling alcohol as the coronavirus crisis eased, with 21 days since a recorded case of local transmission.

The Southeast Asian nation of about 70 million people was the first country outside China to report a case of coronavirus, on Jan. 13, and has been a relative success story in containing it, with just 3,135 confirmed cases and 58 fatalities. Some 2,987 patients have recovered.

Officials have credited Thais' early adoption of wearing masks - ubiquitous in public since January - as well as its border closure, shuttering of many business and the curfew for the retreat of the new virus that has infected 7.9 million worldwide and killed more than 430,000.

Other establishments allowed to reopen on Monday were schools with less than 120 students, exhibition halls, music concerts, film productions, playgrounds, amusement parks and sports competitions without spectators.

Pubs, bars and karaoke outlets will remain closed, but restaurants that reopened two weeks ago with social distancing will now be able to serve alcohol.

Monday was the second time in five days that Thailand reported no new cases.

All new cases in the past three weeks have been found in quarantine among Thais returning from abroad, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's COVID-19 task force. 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty)

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Thailand to further ease restrictions, shorten curfew hours

BANGKOK- Thailand will next week shorten curfew hours and ease restrictions on more businesses, the government said on Friday, in response to its low numbers of locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus.

Starting June 1, cinemas and theaters can reopen, but with no more than 200 people at a time and with strict physical distancing measures, said Somsak Roongsita, secretary-general of the National Security Council.

A curfew will be shortened by one hour to last from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. and shopping malls, which reopened earlier this month, will also be allowed to extend their operating hours, he added.

"The reopening will help stimulate the economy and ease some financial burdens," Somsak said.

Zoos, beauty clinics, spas, and traditional Thai massages will be allowed to operate, with physical distancing in place, as will soccer fields and volleyball and basketball courts, but only for training purposes and with limits on spectators.

Fitness clubs can also reopen but with limited users at each time.

Thailand's planning agency on Thursday said the impacts of the coronavirus could cause the loss of up to 2 million jobs this year, particularly in the tourist industry. It predicts the economy will shrink 5 to 6 percent this year.

Thailand confirmed 11 new coronavirus cases on Friday, and no new deaths. All those cases were arrivals from Kuwait and were in state quarantine.

All but one of the cases reported this week were detected in quarantine.

The government has previously said it planned to reopen all businesses within June, although passenger flights remain suspended.

The Southeast Asian country has seen a slowdown in locally transmitted cases, and more recent cases have been found among those in state quarantine after returning from abroad.

The coronavirus has infected 3,076 in Thailand since January and killed 57.

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Thailand begins coronavirus vaccine trials on monkeys

BANGKOK - Thailand on Saturday began testing a vaccine against the coronavirus on monkeys after positive trials in mice, an official said.

Thailand's minister of higher education, science, and research and innovation, Suvit Maesincee, said researchers had moved testing of the vaccine to monkeys and hoped to have a "clearer outcome" of its effectiveness by September.

"This project is for the human race, not just Thais. The prime minister (Prayuth Chan-ocha) has outlined a policy that we must develop a vaccine and join the world community workforce on this," Suvit told reporters on Saturday.

Thailand announced on Wednesday that it was developing a vaccine - one of at least 100 potential vaccines in the works worldwide - and hoped to have it into production by next year.

Suvit said that Thailand has started reserving two manufacturers for its vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Since the new virus emerged in China late last year, COVID-19 has spread around the world, infecting more than 5 million people and killing more than 300,000.

The Thai vaccine uses messenger RNA, which prompts body cells to produce antigens, molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

The Thai vaccine is being developed by the National Vaccine Institute, the Department of Medical Science and Chulalongkorn University's vaccine research center.

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Look, no hands! Thai mall puts pedals in lifts to keep coronavirus at bay

BANGKOK - A mall in Thailand has swapped lift buttons for foot pedals in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as well as help restore normalcy and get shoppers spending again.

Customers at Bangkok's Seacon Square were surprised and confused this week to find pedals in front of the elevators and inside, but they welcomed the new hands-free enhancement as a smart move to stay healthy.

"They did a good job in preparing this. I feel much safer because we use our hands to do various things all the time," said a customer who disclosed only her first name, Watcharaporn.

"Now that we can use our foot to press the elevator, it's really great."

Thailand opened malls and department stores on Sunday for the first time since March, its second phase of relaxing measures as the number of new coronavirus cases slows. It has confirmed 3,034 cases and 56 deaths.

Its economy, Southeast Asia's second largest, contracted at its sharpest pace in 8 years in the first quarter, pushing it into recession sooner than expected, as the coronavirus outbreak hit tourism and domestic activity.

The central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year to a record low on Wednesday.

Prote Sosothikul, vice president of Seacon Development, which oversees the mall, said the foot pedals gave shoppers some peace of mind. "The easiest way to get infected is when you touch an object that has been contaminated," he said.

"Eventually touch your face and the virus will go into your mouth, your eyes, or whatever. So we came up with this idea of hand-free, foot-operated elevator." 

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