BANGKOK, June 29 (TNA) — The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) approved the 5th round of business/activity resumption that will take effect on July 1. It comes with punishment for pubs, bars and soapy massage parlors that transmit the disease.
CCSA spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said that under the 5th round of lockdown relaxation all schools would reopen, malls would open until 10pm and convenience stores would operate around the clock.
Pubs, bars, karaoke shops and beer and liquor houses will open until midnight and be subject to social distancing or use partitions. Sales of alcohol are required to stop at midnight. So, people cannot continue to drink afterwards at boiled rice shops.
Operators of such entertainment venues would be held responsible for the costs of treatment for the patients who contract the disease at their places, Dr Taweesin said.
Game and internet shops will reopen and people there must wear face masks.
Soapy massage parlors will resume services and operators must ensure the correct registration of customers. Operators would also be punished if their places transmit COVID-19, Dr Taweesin said.
For the arrivals of foreigners, CCSA proposed to include family members of foreigners with work permits, foreigners with residences in the country, family members of Thai nationals, patients and their followers and students and their parents.
Besides, CCSA welcomes businesspeople and technicians from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Hong Kong who will pay for their quarantine and whose arrivals will be limited at 200 daily. Guests of the government will also be welcomed but they will be monitored and banned from visiting public places.
CCSA lifted its social distancing policy on public transport vehicles but required people aboard them to wear face masks. As the CCSA director, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha urged for the continuation of working from home and staggered work hours, Dr Taweesin said. (TNA)
