Thailand reported 102 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths, the country’s public health ministry said yesterday.
The latest numbers raised the total in the Southeast Asian nation to 2,169 cases. Twenty three people have died in Thailand since the outbreak first emerged in January.
Thailand has temporarily banned all passenger flights from landing in the country to curb the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the country’s
aviation agency said.
The ban on incoming flights will come into effect on Friday morning and run until today, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said in an order.
Anyone arriving on a flight that took off before the order came into effect will need to be quarantined for 14 days upon arrival in Thailand, the
order said.
It came just hours after a commotion at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport when more than 100 Thai nationals arrived on different flights late on Friday, a Thai immigration officer said.
“A public health officer allowed them to quarantine themselves at home. There was a commotion because they said they weren’t aware they had to be put in a state quarantine,” the
officer said.
The ban on incoming air travel came a day after the Thai government asked citizens abroad to delay returning home until after April 15 in a bid to stop
imported cases.
Thailand has 11 international airports, including in the capital Bangkok, which is under a curfew from Friday, and the popular tourist island Phuket, which was planning to shut its airport from April 10 to April 30.
Thai passengers talking with immigration authorities at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, as they refused to go into state quarantine facilities amid the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, according to officials.
