BANGKOK (AP) – When Thailand’s transport minister was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha suffered a headache.
Prayuth was not particularly appreciated for his leadership against coronavirus last year, but for most of 2020 Thailand has been battling the disease, with low infections and death rates envied by more developed countries.
Now, an outbreak in the nightlife of the capital Bangkok has caused new growing infections, suggesting that the country could have been brought into a false sense of security before mass vaccinations began.
On Thursday, 1,543 new cases were confirmed, reaching 37,453 in total, with 97 deaths. Although this is much better than most other countries, the cases in Thailand in the first three months of this year were three times higher than last year’s, and its daily number is growing rapidly.
The new outbreak has spread among Thai people, especially young, rich and mobile, and some of the newly infected have had the more contagious variant first identified in the UK.
The government says transport minister Saksayam Chidchob caught the virus from an assistant who patronized some of the infectious nightclubs, including a club described by Thai media as a glorified gang that blatantly ignored social precautions. This added to widespread skepticism about the government’s handling of the latest crisis.
Thailand has recently begun to relax strict border controls that in recent years have kept most travelers away, especially important tourists, whose expenses support millions of jobs. Restrictions included mandatory testing and 14-day quarantine for almost all arrivals.
Officials appeared reluctant to impose drastic restrictions, such as extinguishing time, banning alcohol and closing bars, parks and shopping malls that were the rule this time last year, when the Songkran Thai New Year holidays were canceled.
This week, the holiday continued and up to a million Thais went to visit their families or crowded the beaches, even though some hospitals stopped testing COVID-19 because of the press of thousands of people worried that they were exposed or in need of evidence had no viruses. Some hospitals claimed they had not used the test materials, but the government said the real reason was an unintended consequence of well-intentioned regulation – they were asked to admit infected patients immediately, but they believed they did not have enough beds to be able to. accommodate.
Officials pivoted to allow referrals, and thousands of beds were filled at field hospitals set up to house those with confirmed infections, following the government’s protocol of isolating all known patients. Online photos show medical staff exhausted in protective equipment, falling asleep on their desks and chairs.
A worst-case scenario in the epidemiology division of the Department of Disease Control calculated that without safety measures, the country could see a maximum of 28,678 cases a day.
“The situation is still worrying; more measures will follow, “Dr. Opas Karnkavinpong, the department’s director general, warned on Tuesday.
General Natthapon Nakpanich, chief operational officer of the COVID-19 Situation Management Center, drafted on Wednesday, saying the government is considering setting up blockades in several areas after the holiday. These include Bangkok and its surrounding provinces, Prachuab Khiri Khan to the south, where the city of Hua Hin is located, the northern city of Chiang Mai and parts of the east coast, where another popular holiday destination, Pattaya, is located.
On Tuesday, the government raised its eyebrows by posting photos of soldiers spraying forest areas along the border, even though experts say the biggest risk of the virus is airborne.
The latest crisis has highlighted an Achilles’ heel in Thailand’s strategy, the failure to provide enough doses this year to inoculate 70% of the target population needed to obtain the herd’s immunity.
To date, less than 1% of 69 million Thais have been vaccinated, a smaller proportion than in many of its Southeast Asian neighbors.
Thailand’s early success in containing the virus has been remarkable, given the millions of international travelers, especially from China, it usually hosts each year. The first case outside China was a Chinese traveler whose fever was detected at Bangkok airport.
It is unclear why Thailand and several other Southeast Asian countries managed to curb the pandemic for much of last year. Thailand’s extensive and experienced public health system has played an important role, and Prayuth’s government has generally postponed the advice of medical experts.
But the nation has paid a heavy price for its aggressive effort to control outbreaks: the economy has shrunk by 6.1% in 2020, and the recurrence of cases makes the recovery of tourism unlikely soon. Household debt rose 42% last year as incomes fell or stalled to 87% of the country’s GDP.
Thailand’s Norwegian fortunes also vanished late last year, when a group of viruses was found among migrant workers working in seafood factories and markets and living in crowded homes. Severe restrictions and a massive testing campaign near the epicenter of the outbreak seemed to contain it after a few weeks.
“We don’t want to close the whole country, because we know what the problems are, so can you all close?” Prayuth said at that moment. “It depends on everyone, if you don’t want to get infected, stay home for 14-15 days.”
That explosion drew attention to the government’s vaccination plans, just as US and European countries began doubling their vaccinations.
In early January, Prayuth said Thailand was trying to deliver 63 million doses, which at two doses per person would cover less than half of its population. Local production of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to begin in June.
Complaints have surfaced that well-connected companies could unfairly benefit from government contracts for the production and supply of vaccines, allegations denied by the government and the companies involved. Prayuth’s political opponents rallied, complaining about mismanagement, lack of transparency and the failure to diversify beyond the Chinese AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines.
Registration for vaccines for the general public will begin in early May, and vaccinations will begin later in the month. To date, vaccinations have been directed mainly at health workers, areas considered to be at particularly high risk, and communities that may open up early as so-called bubbles in which foreign tourists who have been vaccinated may be left without be quarantined.
On Wednesday, 1,681 people received the first blow, and 388 received two blows. To date, only 73,949 people have been completely vaccinated.