BANGKOK, March 28 — Thailand yesterday reported 91 new Covid-19 cases and one fatality – a Thai man who had attended a mass religious gathering at a mosque in Malaysia, bringing the total to 1,136 cases and five deaths.
Sungai Kolok District Officer, Preecha Nuannoi said the 50-year-old Thai man is one of the 132 Thais who attended the mass religious gathering in Kuala Lumpur last month.
“His condition deteriorated yesterday. He was pronounced dead at Sungai Kolok Hospital, Narathiwat at 3 am (local time) today,” he told Bernama when contacted.
He added that family members of the deceased tested negative for Covid-19.
It is the first death in Thailand linked to the Sri Petaling mosque gathering in Malaysia.
To date, 97 patients have been discharged from hospitals while 1,034 are still being treated, including 11 who are in critical condition.
Meanwhile, a senior expert in Preventive Medicine of Disease Control Department Dr Anupong Sujariyakul said 30 new cases have been linked to earlier infections while 19 cases included those travelled from abroad, worked in crowded places and had close contact with foreigners.
He said 42 new cases were from unknown clusters and the authorities are investigating the source of infections.
“To date, Covid-19 has spread to 52 of 77 provinces in the kingdom with 88.32 per cent are Thai and 11.68 per cent are foreigners,” he said.
Permanent Secretary of Public Health Ministry Dr Suphakit Sirilak called on the people to strictly adhere to social distancing in an effort to curb Covid-19 outbreak.
He said if only 50 per cent of the people adhere to the one-metre social distancing rules, the number of cases will rise to 17,635 by April 15.
“If most of the people ignore social distancing pleas, there will be 25,253 cases and if 80 per cent of the people giving cooperation, the number of cases will stand at 7,745 cases by April 15,” he said.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has ordered more public venues under its jurisdiction to be closed until April 30.
BMA spokesman Pol Capt Pongsakorn Kwanmuang said banquet halls and conference venues, snooker outlets and beauty clinics would be closed from tomorrow to contain the spread of Covid-19.
He said all nurseries except those located at the hospital will be closed starting March 31.
“The closure of education institutions, entertainment outlets, sports venues and shopping malls will be extended (from April 12) to April 30 in line with the duration of the state of emergency decree,” he said.
He added dining areas at hospitals, flower shops at markets, and government agencies at malls will remain open.
— Bernama
