BANGKOK (Reuters) – The Thai capital of Bangkok will close all schools for two weeks after the New Year holiday, as it reinforces measures to control a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the city said on Friday.
Thailand confirmed 279 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, with most of them linked to a cluster of migrant workers in Samut Sakhon province south of Bangkok, and another cluster linked to illegal gaming dens that started in eastern Rayong province. .
These new clusters began to spread across Bangkok, prompting the city administrator to tighten measures to stem the spread of the virus.
“We have started to detect new cases related to students and other service companies,” said Pongsakorn Kwanmuang, a spokesman for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
“That’s why we decided to close more places,” he said.
All schools, day care centers for young and old, preschools and tutoring centers will be closed from 4 to 17 January, while other public facilities, including amusement parks, playgrounds, public baths and massage parlors will be closed from Saturday, he said.
Pongsakorn also said the city is considering restrictions on eating in restaurants, but said more discussions are needed with the government task force COVID-19 on Saturday.
Thailand recorded two new coronavirus deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of infections to 7,163 and the number of deaths to 63 since the outbreak began last January.
Most of the new cases resulted from local transmission of the disease, while six were imported from abroad, said the government task force COVID-19.
(Written by Kay Johnson and Panu Wongcha-um: editing by Neil Fullick)