Public Health Ministry ponders a new lockdown

To identify provinces most at risk of the latest Covid-19 outbreak, the Public Health Ministry has proposed "targeted lockdown" measures and a new colour-coding system.

Thailand logged  11 new deaths yesterday, a new high that included a pregnant woman, raising the average death toll to 140. The government recorded 2,438 new coronavirus cases, all but five contracted locally, bringing the accumulated total since the pandemic began to 55,460.

Covid-19 infections are currently infections in provinces affected by the disease using the colours red, orange, yellow, and green.

The red zone signifies maximum control and a high number of infections; orange signifies the second-highest control zone, followed by the high surveillance zone (yellow), and green signifies provinces out of infection.

There are currently enough beds, but if the transmissions become more severe, there will only be enough beds for severely ill patients for the next two weeks, he said.

The Department of Medical Services has laid down a policy to reduce their time in hospital to 10 days for those who are not severely ill or have mild symptoms.

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Meanwhile, according to Traisuree Taisaranakul, a deputy government spokeswoman, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will meet with the private sector on Wednesday to find ways to buy and allocate more Covid-19 vaccine doses.

"After the private sector wanted to procure vaccine doses for personnel in the industrial sector, they will be allowed to present proposals to buy more vaccine doses and ideas on how to distribute them," Ms.Traisuree said.

She said that the prime minister would like to get advice from the private sector until deciding on measures to stem the spread of disease and restore the economy.

Meanwhile, Bangkok residents have been ordered to wear masks from today or risk a hefty fine, according to Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang.

Violations of the Communicable Disease Act will result in fines of up to 20,000 baht.

In a statement released yesterday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration stated that the penalty would also apply to those establishments that fail to enforce mask-wearing for those on their premises.