This afternoon (April 16), the government announced an urgent announcement at 16:00 regarding the COVID-19 situation in Thailand. Such announcement of the announcement has caused many speculations to rise among Bangkokians whether the city would enter a lockdown status once again.
After a long, unprofitable speech by PM Genetal Prayut Chan-o-cha, Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, the spokesman of the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration [CCSA], took to the stage with detailed updates on post-Songkran regulations to cope with new coronavirus clusters in Thailand. The spokesman has confirmed that the country is still not going into lockdown, while Bangkok and the other 17 provinces with critical infection numbers are now labeled as a red-zoned area, hence strict preventive measures to control the widespread.
Some of the essential regulations announced during today's press are as follows:
- Schools and entertainment venues are closed.
- Gatherings with 50+ individuals are prohibited.
- Celebratory meetings are prohibited.
- Businesses and companies are encouraged to allow their employees to work from home.
- Restaurants can serve dining-in customers until 21:00, and alcoholic beverage serving is completely banned.
- Convenience stores can operate between 04:00-23:00.
- Department stores can operate until 21:00.
- Classes are strictly moved to online platforms.
- Gyms and fitness centers can still operate.
The aforementioned measures will be imposed for at least two weeks, starting at midnight on this Sunday, Apr 18.
Elsewhere, the government promised to seek more vaccine sources to respond to the unnerving clusters, and as of today, it was reported that 1,582 cases were found, which brings the overall number to 39,038 cases, the all-time highest number in Thailand. Meanwhile, the number of vaccinated individuals is now 586,032.