COVID-19: Thailand detects UK virus strain

Chief of the Virology Centre of the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, Dr. Yong Pooworavan said the variant, first reported in the United Kingdom, is more contagious and transmissible.

He said the father, mother and two children travelled from Kent, southeastern England are undergoing compulsory quarantine at a private hospital in Thailand.

"The public need not worry about the B117 strain as the public health authorities are taking all necessary precautions to ensure it will not spread out.

"They (the family) are receiving treatment at a private hospital. They will be discharged from hospital when they are completely treated ... There is no risk of transmission of the variant in Thailand," he said in a posting on his Facebook page yesterday.

Meanwhile, Thailand imposed new measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 at 28 high-risk provinces (designated as high risk areas where more than 50 COVID-19 cases have been reported) including Bangkok effective on Monday.

Published in Royal Gazette this evening, the measures signed by Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan o-cha, including a ban on public gathering and limiting the operating hours for businesses in high risk provinces.

There is no curfew and the people are advised to avoid inter-provincial travel. Besides that, the people are encouraged to work from home.

However, provincial governors can announce target measures to curb spread of COVID-19 in their respective province.

Over the last 24 hours, Thailand recorded 315 new COVID-19 cases including 294 local transmissions, and zero fatalities, bringing the total number of infection cases to 7,694 and 64 deaths.

Meanwhile, Samut Sakhon where the current outbreak started, reported 541 new cases including 455 migrant workers in an official health statement yesterday. The new cases are not added in yesterday's tally.

To date a total of 2,401 cases detected in the province since mid- December.

Thailand saw a second wave of outbreak since mid-December and the outbreak has spread to 53 of 76 provinces in the kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has ordered all public and private schools in 28 high-risk provinces to close from today until January 31.

Besides that, all universities in the 28 provinces will switch to online classes and campus staff will work from home.