To implement the plan to open up to international visitors from July 1, Phuket province aims to vaccinate against COVID-19 for all those directly involved in the tourism sector before the island resort. This famous Thailand welcomes international guests.
Tourists arrive at Phuket International Airport, Thailand. Documentary photo: AFP/VNA Phuket Tourism Association President Phumkit Raktaengam said on May 24 that 94,000 people working in the province’s tourism industry will be vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, all people with household registration in the province are also subject to vaccination. Phuket has about 400,000 registered local residents. The island employs about 500,000 Thai and foreign workers in tourism and other businesses. Phuket’s vaccination program is expected to cover 70% of the population by the end of June so that it can reopen to foreign visitors in July. The resort island of Phuket will be the first Thai locality to reopen, followed by 10 other destinations in October. However, the Thai government only expects to welcome 500,000 foreign visitors this year. – a fraction of the 6.7 million visitors to the Southeast Asian country in 2020 and nearly 40 million in 2019. According to a forecast by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), the tourism industry, which accounted for one-fifth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have to It took 5 years, until 2026, to fully recover. Regarding the COVID-19 situation in Thailand, the number of deaths from COVID-19 in Thailand has surpassed 800, with 30 people recorded not dying on May 24. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand has recorded a total of 806 deaths out of a total of 132,213 people with COVID-19. The third COVID-19 outbreak since early April has accounted for nearly 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in Thailand and nearly 90 percent of all deaths so far. In recent days, Thailand has detected many COVID-19 outbreaks among construction workers in the capital Bangkok. Authorities last week also found 36 cases of a more contagious strain of the B.1.617.2 virus in construction workers’ quarters in Bangkok. On May 24, Thai officials confirmed a new COVID-19 outbreak at the construction site of an elevated tram line in Nonthaburi province bordering Bangkok. Test samples of 900 workers were taken on May 22 and confirmed results on May 24 showed that 519 workers were positive for COVID-19. Thai authorities say that most of the workers at the site are immigrants and will be quarantined at the site, while the Thai workers will be taken to a makeshift hospital. This construction site has been ordered to close since the evening of May 24.
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