Chonburi-
The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced zero new confirmed cases of the Covid-19 Coronavirus this morning for the fifth day in a row in the province.
In the past eight days only one case has been discovered and all of their close contacts have tested negative. This person was a migrant worker who visited the Chonburi Provincial Employment Office. Full testing was done on both the camp where the person lives and the office and two full rounds of testing have shown all contacts of the person as negative for Covid-19.
12 close contacts of this person remain in quarantine. The Health Department stated that they plan to reopen the Chonburi Provincial Employment Office sometime in the next week after testing the entire office staff twice but have yet to announce the date of opening.
The provincial health office stated they will continue doing targeted mass testing for this entire week in the local community. They will be testing people in high risk groups for free throughout the province.
These groups comprise those who worked or visited places recently on timelines like the Chonburi Provincial Employment Office, migrant workers living in densely packed camps, people with any symptoms of Covid-19, and people who work with the public like taxi drivers and supermarket employees. Information on this testing, in Thai, is below.
The Department did not say if any measures or restrictions will be lifted any time soon directly. Currently, the province remains under stiff travel restrictions and closures of many businesses. However, the provincial Administrative Organization President, Wittaya Khunplume, said over the past weekend on his social media accounts that the province is preparing to propose to the government to be downgraded from a deep red high-risk zone to an orange zone and ease measures.
There is no timeline or date for this proposal, however, the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is due to meet on January 31st to officially discuss measures and restrictions. It is likely this week of targeted mass testing is to potentially prepare for any loosening of measures and restrictions.
The CCSA and Thai Cabinet are set to meet today to discuss the possibility of loosened restrictions in provinces where Covid-19 cases have shown significant improvement and a decreasing trend. The Pattaya News will inform our readers of any information regarding this as it comes in.
