Coronavirus: Thailand imposes reporting requirement on Hong Kong arrivals but not quarantine as announced earlier

Confusion reigned after health minister initially said coronavirus quarantine would be mandatory for all arrivals from China, Italy, Iran and South Korea

Travellers from the countries, including those from Hong Kong and Macau, must instead report their health status daily to Thai authorities over 14 days

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Travellers to Thailand from some countries will have to report daily to the authorities for 14 days after their arrival. Photo: AP

Albert Han,Denise TsangandJitsiree Thongnoi

Published: 5:36pm, 6 Mar 2020Updated: 10:16pm, 6 Mar 2020

Thai health authorities on Friday said arrivals from Hong Kong and five other jurisdictions would have to issue daily reports on their physical condition when in the country, while insisting they were not imposing mandatory quarantine amid widespread confusion over the anti-contagion measures.

Dr Thanarak Palipat, deputy director general of Thailand’s Disease Control Department, said those arrivals would be required from the “next one or two days” to keep local officials informed of their health status every day over two weeks in a restriction introduced to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

The measure will apply to jurisdictions previously classified as “dangerous communicable diseases areas” by the Thai government, identified as mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

Another health official on Friday told journalists they recommended arrivals from those areas quarantine themselves on a voluntary basis, reversing an earlier announcement that the precaution was compulsory.

At a press conference on Friday, the authorities added a British national, who flew to Thailand from London with a layover in Hong Kong, was confirmed as infected with the virus.