The entire province of Samut Sakhon has been declared isolated, public facilities have been closed including restrictions on entry and exit from the province.

Thailand has reported a major new outbreak of coronavirus in the past six months. This was announced on Saturday, December 19 by the Director-General of the Department of Disease Control of the Ministry of Health of Thailand Ophat Kanphavinphong.

According to him, all of the cases are likely associated with a shrimp farming company in Samut Sakhon province, located 40 kilometers from Bangkok. 516 out of 1,192 Myanmar immigrants have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. At the same time, as noted by Kanphavinphong, in 90 percent of patients, the disease is asymptomatic.

“Following the registration of the first patient, 67-year-old woman, owner of a shrimp farm and market place in Samut Sakhon province in the central shrimp market area on December 17, the Ministry and local health authorities began epidemiological investigations and mass testing for coronavirus of people who were in direct contact with the patient, as well as visitors and market workers,” a representative of the Ministry of Health told reporters.

Kanphavinphong stressed that the authorities are ready to suppress the outbreak. However, doctors are confident that the number of infected will increase as the testing of workers who live compactly in the province progresses.

Governor Wirasak Wichitsaengsi said travel restrictions are being reintroduced, schools, shopping centers, beauty salons, kindergartens and sports facilities are being closed to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Restrictive measures will last until January 3. Foreign workers are prohibited from entering and leaving the province.

There have been no outbreaks of coronavirus in the country for six months, and in total, according to the Johns Hopkins University project on December 19, only 4331 cases and 60 deaths have been registered in Thailand since the start of the pandemic.