Thailand: Fresh virus outbreak in struggling Phuket

• Phuket, which has been battling to rebound from its Covid-triggered economic doldrums, has been hit by a new bunch of infections, many linked to bars both locally and one in the Thong Lor area of Bangkok.
• The tourist-dependant island on 7 Apr 21 reported eight new cases, half of which were related to entertainment venues, said Kusak Kukiatkul, chief of the Phuket provincial public health department.
• “We have ordered local police and officials to enforce tough laws on entertainment venues that violate Covid-19 preventive legal measures,” Phuket governor Narong Woonciew said, adding that since Covid-19 erupted in early 2020, Phuket had ordered two bars to stay closed for five years, as well as fining and temporarily shutting several others.
• The governor urged people who had visited pubs and bars to self-quarantine, and go to the hospital immediately if they had unusual symptoms.
• He insisted that his provincial administration had stepped up measures to monitor travellers from other provinces entering the province either by land, sea or air.
• Meanwhile, Thanes Supornsahasrungsri, president of the Chon Buri Tourism Council, feared a new wave of infections there would affect the province’s tourism sector despite no holidaymakers having yet cancelled their plans to visit.

External Link : https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2096675/fresh-virus-outbreak-in-struggling-phuket