Thailand has tightened COVID-19 restrictions and warned of further measures as daily cases yesterday surpassed 10,000 and the death toll hit a record 141, despite an overnight curfew in Bangkok and several other provinces.
A surge since April has overwhelmed hospitals, strained the economy and thrown tourism recovery plans in doubt. The government’s vaccine rollout, hindered by supply problems, is slugging, with about 5 percent of the population fully vaccinated and 15 percent only partially.
“I would like everyone to realize our necessity to impose stricter measures soon. We all may get affected and be inconvenienced in many ways,” Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha wrote on Facebook late on Friday.
Photo: Bloomberg
Cases have been climbing particularly in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.
The government imposed additional measures overnight including a ban on any gatherings and activities that can spread the virus, including anti-government rallies that have criticized Prayuth’s handling of the pandemic.
Violators face up to two years in prison and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht (US$1,220).
Prayuth said the forthcoming additional measures seek to limit people’s mobility as much as possible, close down virtually all non-essential places and implement strict work from home.
He said the government’s medical committee would discuss and study the lockdown measures in other countries carefully before approving the new ones.
To ease the pressure on hospitals, Prayuth said authorities are considering allowing people to test themselves at home with antigen test kits.
Thai health authorities on Wednesday said that they would seek to impose limits on exports of the locally produced AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, because the country does not have enough for its own needs.
Production of the AstraZeneca jabs at a Thai factory has fallen short of its target, likely delaying the government’s plan to acquire 61 million doses until May next year.
“The government will speed up securing as many vaccines as we can from everywhere and we’ve never blocked the private sector from securing alternative vaccines,” Prayuth said on Facebook, addressing some of the criticism of his management of the crisis.
He has earlier announced plans to allow the entry of vaccinated travelers without requiring them to quarantine on arrival starting in the middle of October.
Since July 1, the government has reopened the tourist island of Phuket to fully vaccinated tourists under strict health conditions including staying on the island for 14 days while being tested for COVID-19.
It had previously vaccinated most Phuket residents.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Thailand has reported 391,989 confirmed cases and 3,240 fatalities.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of