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A30 world news
Diabierna 16 aPriL 2021

Bangkok nightlife clusters expose Thailand's virus stumbles

other Southeast Asian nations suc-
ceeded in constraining the pandemic
for much of last year. Thailand's ex-
tensive and experienced public health
system played a large role, and Pra-
yuth’s government generally deferred
to medical experts' advice.

But the nation has paid a heavy price
for its aggressive effort to control
outbreaks: The economy contracted
6.1% in 2020 and the resurgence of
cases makes a tourism recovery un-
likely anytime soon. Household debt
rose 42% last year as incomes fell or
stalled, to 87% of the country's GDP.

And Thailand’s lucky streak faded
late last year, when a virus cluster was
found among migrant workers work-
ing in factories and seafood markets
and living in crowded dormitories.
Severe restrictions and a massive
testing campaign near the outbreak's
epicenter seemed to contain it after
several weeks.

“We don’t want to lock down the en-
tire country, because we know what
(AP) — When Thailand's trans- year have kept out most travelers, es- more measures are to come,” Dr. the problems are, so can you all lock
port minister was recently di- pecially all-important tourists whose Opas Karnkavinpong, the depart- down yourselves?” Prayuth said at the
agnosed with COVID-19, it was spending supports millions of jobs. ment's director-general, warned time. “This is up to everyone, if you
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan- The restrictions have included man- Tuesday. don’t want to get infected just stay
ocha who got a headache. datory testing and 14-day quarantines home for 14 to 15 days.”
for almost all arrivals. Gen. Natthapon Nakpanich, opera-
Prayuth was not particularly lauded tions chief for the Center for CO- That flare-up drew attention to the
for his leadership last year against Officials had appeared reluctant to VID-19 Situation Administration, government’s vaccination plans just
the coronavirus, but for much of impose sweeping restrictions like elaborated Wednesday, saying the as the U.S. and European countries
2020 Thailand fought the disease to curfews, bans on serving alcohol and government was considering insti- began doubling down on their inocu-
a standstill, with low infection and closures of bars, parks and shopping tuting lockdowns in several areas af- lations.
death rates envied by more developed malls that were the rule this time last ter the holiday. They include Bang-
countries. year, when Songkran Thai New Year kok and its surrounding provinces, In early January, Prayuth said Thai-
holidays were cancelled. Prachuab Khiri Khan to the south, land was trying to secure 63 million
Now, an outbreak at nightspots in the where the resort town of Hua Hin is, doses, which at two doses per person
capital Bangkok has sent new infec- This week, the holiday went ahead, the northern city of Chiang Mai, and would cover less than half its popula-
tions surging, suggesting the coun- and as many as a million Thais head- parts of the Eastern Seaboard, where tion. Local production of the Astra-
try may have been lulled into a false ed out to visit family or crowded onto another popular holiday destination, Zeneca vaccine is expected to begin
sense of security before mass vaccina- beaches, even as some hospitals halt- Pattaya, is located. in June.
tions begin. ed COVID-19 testing due to a rush
by thousands of people worried they On Tuesday, the government raised Complaints emerged that well-con-
On Thursday, 1,543 new cases were had been exposed or needing proof eyebrows by posting photos of sol- nected companies might profit un-
confirmed, taking the total to 37,453, they were virus-free. Some hospitals diers spraying forest areas along the fairly from government contracts to
with 97 deaths. While that is much claimed to have run out of testing border, even though experts say the produce and supply vaccines, allega-
better than most other countries, supplies, but the government said the greatest virus risk is airborne. tions denied by the government and
Thailand's cases in the first three real reason was an unintended conse- the companies involved. Prayuth’s
months of this year were triple what quence of a well-meaning regulation The latest crisis has made glaringly political opponents piled on, com-
the country had all of last year and its — they are required to admit infected apparent an Achilles heel in Thai- plaining about mismanagement, a
daily numbers are rising fast. patients right away, but believed they land’s strategy, a failure to secure lack of transparency and a failure to
lacked enough beds to accommodate enough doses this year to inoculate diversify beyond the AstraZeneca and
The new outbreak has spread among them. a targeted 70% of the population be- Chinese Sinovac vaccines.
mostly young, affluent and mobile lieved necessary to achieve herd im-
Thais, and some of the newly infect- Officials pivoted to allow referrals, munity. Registration for vaccines for the gen-
ed had the more contagious variant and thousands of beds have filled up eral public is set to begin in early
first identified in the U.K. at field hospitals set up to house those So far, under 1% of 69 million Thais May, with inoculations to start later
with confirmed infections, following have been vaccinated, a smaller pro- in the month. So far, inoculations
The government says Transport Min- the government's protocol of isolat- portion than in many of its Southeast have mostly gone to medical work-
ister Saksayam Chidchob caught the ing all known patients. Online photos Asian neighbors. ers, areas considered at particularly
virus from an aide who patronized show exhausted medical staff in pro- high risk, and communities that may
some of the infectious nightspots, in- tective gear, slumped over sleeping Thailand’s early success in containing be opened early as so-called bubbles
cluding a club described by Thai me- on their desks and chairs. the virus was remarkable given the where foreign tourists who have been
dia as a glorified strip joint that was A worst case scenario from the De- millions of international travelers, vaccinated may be allowed to stay
blatantly ignoring social distancing partment of Disease Control's epi- especially from China, that it usually without undergoing quarantine.
precautions. That has added to wide- demiology division calculated that hosts each year. The first case outside
spread skepticism over the govern- without safety measures, the country China was a Chinese traveler whose On Wednesday, 1,681 people got
ment's handling of the latest crisis. could see a maximum of 28,678 daily fever was detected at Bangkok's air- their first shot and 388 their second
cases. port. jabs. So far, only 73,949 people have
Thailand only recently began easing been fully vaccinated.
strict border controls that for the past “The situation is still worrisome; It's unclear why Thailand and several