Thailand government declares state of emergency to battle coronavirus pandemic

Thailand’s government approved on March 24 a one-month state of emergency in the country. The declaration of a state of emergency allows it to impose stricter measures on the population in an attempt to try and control the coronavirus. The deadly virus has already infected hundreds of people in the Southeast Asian country.

Stringent measures imminent

As per reports, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has stated that the emergency will take effect from March 26. The move gives the government further powers to implement curfews, censor the media, disperse gatherings and deploy military forces for enforcement. The exact measures to be implemented will be released later.

As per reports, the Prime Minister recently gave a televised address wherein he assured the country that a lockdown would not be instituted at this stage, he claimed that measures were being taken to reduce the chance of transmission of the disease. He added that while some measures will require public cooperation, other measures will be orders.

The Prime Minister advised people to stay where they are and not to undertake non-essential travel to rural areas where many workers have their permanent homes and families. He said screening and quarantine measures will be applied to those that do decide to undertake travel and the government is preparing isolation centres, field hospitals and additional medical supplies.

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Thailand has reported over 800 cases of the coronavirus and 4 deaths.

Passengers to require health certificates

Earlier, Thailand announced that all the incoming passengers would require health certificates proving that they haven’t contracted COVID-19 along with insurance, international media reported. This move comes as the South Asian nation reported 272 cases of infection and one death as for now. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand reportedly announced that it now requires all the air passengers, both Thai and foreign nations from 15 nations to show COVID-19 free health certificates and COVID-19 insurance before boarding their flights to Thailand.

The new conditions aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus went into effect from March 21, CAAT governor Chula Sukmanop reportedly said. He added that the airlines are supposed to check whether the passengers have travelled to the 15 affected nations as soon as they board the airplanes. 

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