Photographer: Jack Taylor / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Jack Taylor / AFP / Getty Images
Thailand reported 46 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, 89% below Tuesday’s count, as it omitted new infections among migrant workers, who accounted for most cases in an outbreak reported earlier this week.
“We will not report the number of cases found during proactive search operations among migrant workers,” said Taweesilp Witsanuyotin, spokesman for the Covid-19 center, on Wednesday, although he did not reveal the reason for the omission. “He is at zero for now, as we have many reasons that we must discuss in more detail.”
Virus-free by September, about a fifth of Thailand’s total cases occurred last week, with a record 548 reported on Sunday, 382 on Monday and 427 on Tuesday after a set of infections was discovered last weekend in the coastal province of Samut Sakhon. This has raised infections reported in Thailand since January to 5,762, said Taweesilp.
About 90% of infections reported over the weekend were found among migrant workers from Myanmar, the Ministry of Health said earlier this week.
The discovery of the new outbreak, which placed the coastal province of Samut Sakhon under a 14-day blockade, threatens to derail plans to revive Thailand’s vital tourism industry, risking a continuing recession.
“At the moment, we know the source of this outbreak and we have health measures in place to contain the virus. We are still able to handle it, ”Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday. “I am concerned that the cause of this outbreak may be due to the migrant workforce.”
Prayuth said he will decide at a Covid-19 committee meeting on Thursday which measures to implement before the new year. The meeting will also determine which provinces are at high risk of spreading the virus.
Ministries of health and labor were forced to issue measures against undocumented workers, the prime minister said.
Of the cases reported by Thailand on Wednesday, most of the 39 local broadcasts were Thai people connected to seafood producers or markets, with seven infections found among people in state quarantine, according to Taweesilp.