Thailand has set up a COVID-19 testing laboratory inside Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. It’s thought to be the first in Southeast Asia.
The lab will analyse swab tests on-site. Once foreigners are approved to come into Thailand for business on a short-term stay for less than seven days, they will have to go through a swab test at Suvarnabhumi after touching down.
Each test will cost them US$100. The lab, a permanent fixture in the airport, can be used as a testing facility for other diseases like Ebola and MERS or other new emerging viruses in the future.
Thailand recorded five new COVID-19 cases today, all among Thais in state quarantine after returning from Kuwait.
Four of the five new patients are Thai males, aged 34, 46, 48 and 51, who all worked as freelancers. The fifth is a 37-year old Thai woman, who worked as a masseuse. All of them arrived in Thailand on the same flight as five others, who earlier also tested positive for COVID-19.
CCSA spokesman, Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, told a news briefing today (Monday) that the new cases bring Thailand’s cumulative infections to 3,195, with 3,072 recoveries and 65 others being treated in hospital. The death toll remains 58.
The Thai government has confirmed the requirements for people wishing to enter the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
While Thailand’s borders remain closed to tourists, certain groups of foreigners are allowed to enter the country.
These groups are:
- Persons who hold a valid certificate of residence
- Spouses, parents or child of a Thai national
- Work permit holders
- Students of Thai educational institutions
- Persons who are in need of medical treatment in Thailand
All people in the aforementioned groups are required to have health insurance covering COVID-19, a fit to fly certificate and undergo quarantine once they return to Thailand.
