Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2f4sh2vv3iil24y/VRP24317.mp4?dl=0
Airports in Thailand were today (April 13) tightening travel controls amid an outbreak of Covid-19 cases linked to upmarket strip clubs in the capital Bangkok.
Thousands of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus over the last two weeks have been traced to nightclubs and ‘coyote’ hostess bars in the Thong Lor district.
The cluster is the third significant outbreak of Covid-19 in Thailand and saw 965 people infected today.
Officials have closed bars and entertainment clubs across the country and increased checks at airports for people travelling between different regions.
Footage shows the airport in Khon Kaen province in the northeast of Thailand, where extra screening procedures have been put in place at a new terminal due to open in the coming weeks.
Charun Meesomboon, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Airports, said the officers who are stationed at all airports are faced with large numbers of people so should wear masks and wash hands regularly.
He said: ‘The screening of people traveling in and out of the province has been increased. Everyone passing through the airport must use the government’s tracing app and follow health regulations.’
The outbreak coincides with the start of Thailand’s Songkran New Year holiday, with hundreds of thousands of locals moving around the country on planes, cars and buses to visit relatives.
There have been a total of 33,610 Covid-19 cases and 97 deaths as of April 13.