Coronavirus: Thailand’s Alpha and Delta surges cloud reopening in Phuket, Koh Samui

Name: Thailand’s Phuket island reopens for vaccinated tourists under quarantine-free ‘sandbox’ scheme
Uploaded: 2021-07-13T01:00:17.000Z
Duration: 3 min 55 s
Description: Thailand’s Phuket island reopens for vaccinated tourists under quarantine-free ‘sandbox’ scheme

The deadly new Covid-19 wave in Bangkok and the Deep South has raised fears the virus will seep back into tourism centres just as they reopen

Health officials expect nationally recorded coronavirus deaths this week to exceed 100 a day, with 10,000 daily infections

Reading Time:4 minutes

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Tourists enjoy the sun at a resort in Phuket on July 2, 2021. Photo: Reuters

Vijitra Duangdee

Published: 9:00am, 13 Jul 2021Updated: 12:55pm, 13 Jul 2021

Thailand on Monday placed 10 million people in the capital under fresh coronavirus restrictions and a curfew, as its deadliest wave of infections threatens to erode plans to bring vaccinated visitors back to its islands.

The kingdom has recorded a total of some 345,000 cases and 2,791 deaths – with the bulk of them coming in the latest wave that began in April.

The surge in cases of Alpha and Delta variants in the Bangkok region and Deep South border near Malaysia has raised fears among tourist businesses that the virus will seep back into the islands – including Phuket and Koh Samui – just as they reopen.

Phuket has welcomed some 4,000 vaccinated visitors since a triumphant reopening on July 1 as part of its “sandbox” scheme – a test bed for the hopes of a country desperate for receipts from tourism, which made up around a fifth of GDP before the pandemic.

A widespread outbreak could not only jeopardise the July 16 “Samui Plus” reopening scheme for Koh Samui, diving hotspot Koh Tao, and the full moon party island of Koh Phangan, but also prematurely shut the sandbox initiative.

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Thailand’s Phuket island reopens for vaccinated tourists under quarantine-free ‘sandbox’ scheme

Health officials expect nationally recorded coronavirus deaths this week to exceed 100 a day, with 10,000 daily infections.

Coronavirus: Thailand’s Alpha and Delta surges cloud reopening in Phuket, Koh Samui

The deadly new Covid-19 wave in Bangkok and the Deep South has raised fears the virus will seep back into tourism centres just as they reopen Health officials expect nationally recorded coronavirus deaths﻿ this week to exceed 100 a day, with 10,000 daily infections

The deadly new Covid-19 wave in Bangkok and the Deep South has raised fears the virus will seep back into tourism centres just as they reopen

Health officials expect nationally recorded coronavirus deaths this week to exceed 100 a day, with 10,000 daily infections