NONTHABURI, April 8 (TNA) — The Department of Disease Control will apply a proactive approach of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests in Bangkok.
Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the department, said at the Ministry of Public Health that officials would test groups of people in COVID-19-spreading areas in the capital to find infected people and effectively contain the disease.
The disease spread at entertainment venues in Thong Lor area and there were also returnees from other countries in the capital, he said.
Proactive tests were already implemented in Phuket where the disease spread at entertainment places on its Bang La Road. More than 1,500 people there were tested, Dr Suwannachai said.
Of 111 new local COVID-19 cases announced today, 69 contracted the disease locally and 42 other patients returned from other countries, he said.
All returnees must be quarantined at specific places for 14 days to control the disease no matter whether they are ill or not. The government prepared 1,883 rooms for quarantine consisting of 136 rooms of the state and 1,747 rooms of the private sector. Now 1,400 rooms are vacant, Dr Suwannachai said. (TNA)
