{"id":146107,"date":"2021-01-02T20:46:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T17:46:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bangkok-imposes-partial-lockdown-to-combat-virus\/"},"modified":"2021-01-02T20:46:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T17:46:40","slug":"bangkok-imposes-partial-lockdown-to-combat-virus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bangkok-imposes-partial-lockdown-to-combat-virus\/","title":{"rendered":"#Bangkok imposes partial lockdown to combat virus"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Bangkok imposes partial lockdown to combat virus<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"Bangkok\"
\n Credit: Pixabay\/CC0 Public Domain
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Bangkok’s nightlife will go quiet as a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales goes into effect Saturday, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom’s rising coronavirus toll.\n <\/p>\n

Thailand initially app<\/a>eared to have escaped the worst of the virus, registering just under 4,000 total cases in November, despite becoming the second country to detect an infection, early last year.<\/p>\n

But an outbreak last month at a massive seafood market has spiralled into a resurgence, with infections now detected in 53 of the kingdom’s 77 provinces. By Saturday the caseload had jumped to over 7,300. <\/p>\n

In Bangkok, where more than 2,600 active cases have been detected, city authorities acted swiftly and announced a partial lockdown to go into effect Saturday. <\/p>\n

Bars and nightclubs, boxing stadiums, cockfighting rings and massage parlours\u2014as well as beauty salons and gyms\u2014will be among a slew of businesses affected.<\/p>\n

The capital also announced Friday that public schools would close for two weeks, while more than a dozen virus checkpoints were set up Saturday across the city.<\/p>\n

“We don’t want to use extreme measures like a lockdown and putting up a curfew, but we need a stronger medicine to prevent the new surge,” said Taweesin Visanuyothin, a spokesman for Thailand’s COVID-19 task force. <\/p>\n

Nationwide restrictions and closures are expected to go into effect from January 4 to February 1, he added, allowing a two-day “grace period” for business owners to prepare.<\/p>\n

Authorities worried about inciting alarm nationwide had been reluctant to classify the new emergence of the virus as a “second wave”.<\/p>\n

But anger resounded across Thai social media<\/a> Saturday on the renewed restrictions, with business owners expressing frustration with the partial lockdown.<\/p>\n

“I comply with the measures strictly, yet I now need to close my business while there are many people scrambling on the skytrain every day,” wrote Aksika Chantarawinji, a spa owner, on the official Facebook page of Bangkok’s governor.<\/p>\n

Breaking coronavirus rules<\/b><\/p>\n

The partial lockdown also comes during a period of relative calm in Bangkok following months of demonstrations that drew thousands to the streets to demand government overhaul and royal reform.<\/p>\n

The latest event organised by the pro-democracy movement was Thursday, during which activists sold seafood to aid embattled shrimp vendors after the market outbreak.<\/p>\n

Police tried to shut down the event and more than a dozen organisers\u2014affiliated with “We Volunteer”, a group that provides security for the activists\u2014were arrested and charged with breaking coronavirus rules.<\/p>\n

Released on bail Saturday evening, they were greeted with cheers from supporters waiting outside court.<\/p>\n

Group leader Piyarat Chongthep accused authorities of targeting pro-democracy activists, as previous seafood-selling drives by royalists were not met with police force. <\/p>\n

“This is a double-standard treatment by the police,” he said upon his release.<\/p>\n

Since the protests kicked off in mid-July, scores of activists have been arrested, charged and released on bail\u2014but demonstrations had continued apace through the second half of 2020.<\/p>\n

While most are accused of breaking COVID-19 rules, more than 30 are facing more serious charges such as those under the royal defamation law\u2014which carry a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison per charge.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news<\/a> on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Bangkok imposes partial lockdown to combat virus (2021, January 2)
\n retrieved 2 January 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-01-bangkok-imposes-partial-lockdown-combat.html<\/p>\n

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