The government is speeding up efforts to secure an additional 9,000 rooms to use as quarantine facilities for Thai citizens coming from abroad.
Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said on Saturday the move was agreed by the Defence Ministry and the Public Health Ministry after learning that many more Thais were registering with the Foreign Affairs Ministry to return home.
Lt Gen Kongcheep said the government is now allowing 500 Thais to return home a day, up from the previous 400, so the ministries have coordinated with hotels to provide an additional 9,000 rooms that can be used as quarantine facilities.
He said all returnees are being placed in state quarantine for 14 days to ensure they have not contracted Covid-19.
He said during quarantine they are tested for the virus twice.
The first test is conducted on the fifth day of their stay and the second on the twelfth day.
However, if they are found to have contracted Covid-19, they are immediately sent to receive care at state hospitals.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported that as of June 1, 30,019 Thais have returned home.
Thailand reported two new coronavirus cases yesterday, both returnees from abroad, and no new deaths, bringing the total to 3,104 cases and 58 deaths since January.
The two asymptomatic patients from Russia and Kuwait have been in state quarantine since their arrivals, said Panprapa Yongtrakul, deputy spokeswoman for the CCSA.
The first, a 22-year-old student returning from Russia has been in state quarantine in Chon Buri since Monday. He tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday and was treated at a hospital in the eastern province, Dr Panprapa said.
The other case was a 39-year-old factory employee returning from Kuwait who has been in a state quarantine facility in Bangkok since May 24.
The first test showed he was not infected but he tested positive in a second test on Thursday.
He was subsequently admitted to a hospital in Bangkok, said the centre's deputy spokeswoman.
No local transmissions have been found for 12 days.
