Police told to work from home after 42 test positive

Police told to work from home after 42 test positive

Testing quest: Police officers and other people queue at the Police Hospital for Covid-19 testing following the emergence of a new cluster of infections linked to entertainment venues in the Thong Lor area. Those screened and identified as in the ‘not at risk’ group had to pay 2,200 baht. (Photo by Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
Testing quest: Police officers and other people queue at the Police Hospital for Covid-19 testing following the emergence of a new cluster of infections linked to entertainment venues in the Thong Lor area. Those screened and identified as in the ‘not at risk’ group had to pay 2,200 baht. (Photo by Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) on Thursday asked about half its staff at its head office to begin working from home and other units to adopt the same measure wherever possible.

The work-from-home order, plus other measures, was ordered by national police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk after at least 42 police officers were confirmed to have contracted Covid-19, said RTP spokesman Pol Maj Gen Yingyos Thepjamnong.

Units around the country had also been instructed to apply the work-from-home policy wherever possible, while still ensuring efficiency, he said.

The Police General Hospital was on Thursday flooded with a large number of police officers concerned they might have contracted the virus and keen to get tested, a hospital source said.

Pol Maj Gen Yingyos insisted the RTP had been strictly following the government's Covid-19 containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

He was responding to a remark by Sira Jenjaka, a Palang Pracharath Party MP and chairman of the House committee on legal affairs, justice and human rights, who vowed to invite all parties concerned to an inquiry over the latest Covid-19 outbreak triggered by night entertainment venues in the Thong Lor area of Bangkok.

The Metropolitan Police Bureau had been consistently advising all business operators to fully comply with the government's Covid-19 control measures, he said, adding that the MPB had to also maintain 24/7 security patrols around the city to deter people from flouting disease-control measures.

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