Health

Thailand reports biggest Covid-19 outbreak with over 500 new cases

Bangkok, Dec 19 (efe-epa).- Thai authorities on Saturday detected 548 Covid-19 cases linked to a seafood market in what was the country’s biggest outbreak of the pandemic so far.

The outbreak has been traced to the Mahachai market in Samut Sakhon province, which borders Bangkok, where a 67-year-old woman tested positive on Thursday, according to the country’s Covid-19 information center.

The director of Thailand’s center for disease control, Opas Karnkawinpong, told a press conference that the majority of the new cases were detected among migrant workers and were asymptomatic, according to the Bangkok Post.

It is the biggest outbreak on record in the Southeast Asian nation, which has reported a total of 4,300 infections and 60 deaths, far below much of the Western world.

The majority of the migrant workers were from Myanmar, the local press said.

Thailand maintains strict control of its borders but there are no restrictions to travel within the country, although mask-use in public spaces is obligatory.

Thai authorities had relaxed Covid-19 measures in recent months in a bid to revive the tourism sector, which represents between 12 and 20% of its GDP.

Any traveler arriving in Thailand has to observe 14 days of quarantine in a hotel or medical center.

According to the Bank of Thailand, the economy is expected to drop 8.1% this year as a result of the pandemic. EFE-EPA

grc/jt

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