Phuket province is imposing a set of stricter measures to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases, with stricter screening applied to land, sea, and air arrivals. While the province has not reinstated quarantine requirements, all nightlife venues will be closed during the Songkran holidays.
Phuket’s provincial Communicable Diseases Committee today reached a resolution in response to the latest surge of COVID-19 cases in Thailand, where administrative and health officials agreed that the island province will continue to be open to visitors, without any quarantine requirement.
The province is now enhancing the level of arrivals screening for land, sea, and air arrivals. Visitors are urged to strictly practice social distancing, hand washing, mask wearing, and using the government’s Mor Chana contact tracing and Thai Chana travel history logging applications, as well as cooperating with other disease control measures.
At the meeting, the province reached a decision to close all entertainment venues on the island during the Songkran holidays, from 9th to 18th April, as part of a transmission prevention effort.
In addition to this measure, three venues are ordered to close down immediately until 21st April, following the report of new COVID-19 cases. The venues are Cafe Del Mar in Kamala subdistrict, Illusion in Patong subdistrict, and Shelter in Patong subdistrict. Deep cleaning will be taking place at all these venues during the closure.
Workers at these three venues, as well as customers who attended events at these venues on 2-3 April are advised to get tested for COVID-19 at a hospital, and to self-isolate for 14 days.
Owners of entertainment venues are invited to join a meeting at the provincial hall tomorrow morning, where officials will elaborate on the necessity of this decision.
The Provincial Communicable Diseases Committee meeting was chaired by the provincial governor Narong Woonciew, with heads of local administrations, health authorities, and delegates from local businesses participating. (NNT)
