Anutin to propose temporary closure of entertainment venues to fight Covid-19

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Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has said that he would propose the closure of entertainment venues to the committee managing the Covid-19 situation as part of Thailand’s bid to curb the pandemic outbreak.

He said that he would propose many measures to the committee, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, on Monday.

One measure is to announce additional high-risk destinations, besides the existing ones on the list, which are China (including Hong Kong and Macua), South Korea, Italy and Iran.

Another is the proposed closure of entertainment venues until further notice. The committee will speficy the venues to be closed zone by zone.

It was found that some returnees from high-risk countries neglected self-quarantine at home and were hanging out at nightspots which caused cluster infection, he added.

Other measures he will propose are the cancellation of some festivals.

The government recently set up the committee and tasked it with managing the Covid-19 situation. Among its members are the deputy PM and 16 ministers. Its roles is to introduce policies and urgent measures in response to the situation.

The government also set up a centre to manage the outbreak situation or Covid-19 centre, which reports directly to the PM.

Anutin, who also serves as deputy prime minister, insisted that Thailand is still in the second phase of the outbreak. But the country needs to impose stringent measures to prevent it from entering the third phase.

Seven new coronavirus (Covid-19) cases were confirmed on Saturday (March 14) by the Public Health Ministry, raising the number of infections in Thailand to 82.