Just one day after Thailand marked its milestone of being free of locally transmitted coronavirus infections for 100 days, a new case emerged, raising fears of a second wave with a possible cluster spread which may force the government to declare a lockdown.
The new case, a 37-year-old male inmate charged with a drug offence tested positive for Covid-19 shortly after arriving in prison and he has since been moved to a hospital run by the Corrections Department. New inmates normally undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Health authorities said the inmate showed symptoms on Aug 29, three days after being put behind bars, but they were not clear about his condition until Thursday following the test. The man was working as a DJ at two pubs in Bangkok and Nonthaburi before being jailed. He reportedly visited a pub in the Khao San area on Aug 18.
Initially, the Health Ministry appeared to play down the the case, insisting there was "low infection risk", as the authorities decided to count only people who came into close contact, just a few dozen including family members who lived with him at a Bang Mod condominium, other inmates who shared a vehicle with him and appeared in court the same day, and some court officials, most of them put under home quarantine for 14 days.
Yet such claims raised eyebrows since the man was in the service industry, meaning he encountered patrons and co-workers. Pubs and entertainment places were hot spots in some other countries where cluster infections arose, such as Japan.
Public suspicion may have caused the ministry to rectify its position, albeit too late. It later raised the number of people in contact with the man from Aug 15 until the day he tested to 589. Of the total, 78 people are considered high risk and the rest labelled low risk. Tests have showed no transmission as of press time yesterday.
There is seemingly is no clear signs pointing health officials to the source of the infection. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is stumped over the source of this case.
Health officials suspect the patient may have contracted the virus from a returnee while he was at work or from an infected person with no travel history. Health officials are racing against time to locate the source of the infection.
The Department of Medical Sciences, in particular, has been assigned to analyse the genome sequence of the virus to determine the strain, a process will take some time.
The case is a wake-up call for the country with people lapsing into complacency for far too long because of a false belief that Thailand was free of the coranavirus. Many people do not think the virus is a threat.
This explains why people in Bangkok and elsewhere have generally lowered their guard, few wearing face masks or respecting social distancing, while the authorities paid little, if any, attention, let alone taking action. Few shops or restaurants have limited the number of customers at one time.
Over is the excessive stress on "good news'' by the Health Ministry, in particular the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration that may have caused people to have false impressions about "safety".
The CCSA must work out which agencies are to take on the role of site commanders (local body inspectors for Bangkok, for instance?) so that those who breach anti-virus guidelines will get a slap on the wrist, or heavier penalties, if they do not comply with the guidelines. It's an irony that the country is under an emergency decree, yet few people have followed the rules.
As health authorities are working on the new infection case, the CCSA must fix these loopholes at once, making sure that strict anti-virus guidelines are fully respected. People need to be told and retold that these guidelines are not too difficult to follow, and they must abide by the rules for the country and for themselves. People can fully relax only when a vaccine is available.
Therefore, it's their duty to offer the state full cooperation if they do not want another lockdown that will further damage the already-bruised economy.
With the economic contraction from the first coronavirus wave, the government is already broke. It cannot afford new economic relief packages.
Everyone must pitch in to ensure the virus is curtailed.
