PM wants CCSA to look into vaccine management plan
NationalJan 30. 2021Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha
By The Nation
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the Covid-19 pandemic vaccine management plan be submitted to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration next week, said government deputy spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek.
The first groups to be inoculation will be medical staff, elders, chronically ill persons and medical staff working in high-risk areas.
The CCSA reported 930 new cases on Saturday and the death of a Myanmar labourer in Samut Sakhon province.
The Bureau of the Royal Household announced on Saturday that it would temporarily close some royal palaces and other locations under its administration due to the Covid-19 pandemic from February 1 until the situation improves.
The announcement on the website www.royaloffice.th said the following sites would be closed:
– The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha Temple
– Bang Pa-in Palace
– Bhubing Palace
– Chang Hua Man Project according to Royal Initiative
Seven million people had registered for the RaoChana (We win) cash handout campaign as of noon on Saturday.
The numbers were up slightly from 6.8 million at 11pm on Friday, when registration opened, said Kulaya Tantitemit, inspector-general at the Finance Ministry.
“This shows that the number of new registrants is gradually slowing down after most people had rushed to register from 6am on Friday,” she said.
Under the RaoChana scheme, people will be given Bt3,500 cash handout for two consecutive months.
The RaoChana website is open for registration from 6am to 11pm daily until February 12, after which names of those who are eligible will be published on the website. The first payment will be made on February 18.
“Although no maximum limit has been set, the Ministry of Finance expects that the total registrants would not exceed 10 million people,” she said. “We estimate that some 31.1 million people will be eligible for the subsidy. Among these, about 14 million are holders of state welfare card, while the other 17 million will come from new registrations and those who had already registered under ‘Let’s Go Halves’ and ‘Let’s Travel Together’ campaigns who fit the RaoChana criteria.”
RaoChana subsidy recipients cannot be those who are under the social security system, government and state enterprise employees and freelancers with high income (as per savings check).
People who do not have a smartphone can register on February 15 at the nearest branch of the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, Government Savings Bank and Krungthai Bank.
Police on Friday confiscated 314 slot machines hidden in a warehouse in Surin province.
The raid was in line with the National Police chief’s policy to deal with gambling machines and dens in rural areas.
Police had been informed that slot machines were hidden in a suspicious warehouse, located in Surin’s Chom Phra district. The officials asked the Surin Provincial Court for a search warrant before raiding the premises.
In the warehouse, the officials found 314 machines and over 300 circuit boards. The warden of the warehouse was identified as “Chop”.
Initial inspection showed that a wealthy person, identified as “Mr. B”, had ordered his subordinates to bring the machines and store them in this warehouse.
Police said the machines had not been used in Surin, but they did not know where they had come from.
Police said that related persons would be initially charged with hiding or buying illegal products.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported 930 new cases on Saturday and the death of a Myanmar labourer in Samut Sakhon province.
The cases from foreign countries were 11 persons in the state quarantine and 3 persons crossing over from Malaysia.
In the state quarantine, there were 11 cases – four Thais and seven foreigners. The Thai returnees came from South Korea, Nigeria, the UK and Germany.
The foreigners consisted of an Iranian, a Nigerian, a Briton, a Russian, a German and two Americans – all travelling from their home countries.
Outside the quarantine facilities, three Thai nationals were found infected with Covid-19, crossing over from Malaysia both illegally and legally.
As of Saturday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 17,953, 15,501 contracted locally. So far, 8,553 cases have been uncovered through proactive testing, while 2,452 are returnees.
A total of 11,505 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while 6,371 are still in hospital. The death toll rose to 77, seven in the second outbreak.
CCSA assistant spokesperson Panprapa Yongtrakul said that the latest fatality, a Myanmar labourer, had congenital diseases like liver cirrhosis and alcoholism. He died on January 27.
According to the Worldometer, as of 10am, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 102.62 million (up by 588,571), of whom 73.86 million have recovered, 108,987 are in severe condition and 2.21 million have died (up by 14,988).
Thailand ranks 118th on the global list of most cases. The US tops the list with 26.51 million cases, followed by India 10.73 million, Brazil 9.11 million, Russia 3.81 million and the United Kingdom 3.77 million.
Sathorn district in Bangkok filed a complaint with Thungmahamek police on Friday, demanding that officers find out the truth about DJ Mattoom’s birthday party.
On January 9, celebrity DJ Techin Ploypetch – or Matoom – held his birthday celebration at Banyan Tree Hotel on Sathorn Road.
He later announced that he, as well as others who had attended his party, had contracted Covid-19. Sathorn director Pansak Charoensuk wanted the police to check if it was illegal to hold the party amid the virus crisis.
Chiang Mai police have arrested three suspects linked to a man who shot and injured a police officer in Mae Rim district.
On Friday police had visited Saluang subdistrict, looking for local drug dealers. Along the way, near orange and longan orchards, the officers found four people whose behaviour was suspicious.
When police approached the men, they fled the scene but a gunshot by one of the suspects injured an officer.
The incident prompted police to raid the area where three persons were found and arrested. The alleged shooter was suspected to be hiding in a forest nearby.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has removed from 4pm on Friday 14 checkpoints that had been set up for visitors from other provinces entering Bangkok, as the Covid-19 situation in the province is improving.
The checkpoints had been set up on January 2 on the routes that connected Bangkok to other provinces in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. Travellers passing through the checkpoints were screened for Covid-19.
“Although the checkpoints have been removed, district officials must continue to monitor venues that have high risk of virus spreading in their responsible areas,” BMA deputy governor Pol Lt-General Sophon Phisutthiwong said.
“If any businesses fail to comply with the authority’s measures, the district office must work with police to pursue legal action immediately.”
BMA also has urged all districts to enforce preventive measures during Chinese New Year festival that will start on February 12.
“All districts must actively advise people to maintain social distancing practices, wear face masks in public places, wash their hands regularly, and check-in and check-out using the Thai Chana platform when shopping for spirit offerings or paying respect at shrines during the festival,” added Sophon.
Iconsiam shopping complex in Bangkok’s Klong San district tested 238 mall and shop staff and found no cases of Covid-19 infection, Supoj Chaiwatsirikul, the mall’s managing director, said on Friday.
The mall’s initiative came after Bangkok Metropolitan Administration reported on Wednesday that the 645th patient of the province is a restaurant chef who worked at Iconsiam’s CP-Hilai Harbour restaurant from January 5-8 and had shopped at Tesco Lotus in the Phasi Charoen area.
Supoj said that since Wednesday the mall had increased the cleaning period to 13 hours every night after closing to cover all contact surfaces in the premises.
“To ensure the safety of our customers and staff, Iconsiam will hold the ‘Super Big Cleaning Day’ on Sunday, when the mall will be closed to visitors,” he said.
“Iconsiam will reopen on February 1 at 10am.
“We have been employing preventive measures as advised by the authorities, such as installing thermo-scanners and alcohol hand sanitisers, urging customers to wear face mask, checking-in and checking-out via Thai Chana platform, and maintaining social distancing in the mall,” added Supoj.
“We will continue to use aggressive measures to keep everyone safe and overcome this crisis together.”
Samut Prakarn police on Friday arrested Mongkol Santimetakul, 23, a guard of the pro-democracy movement, who had claimed he was abducted by mysterious men on the night of January 16 from his residence in Samut Prakarn.
He was arrested in Lamsonthi district of Lopburi province.
After Mongkol filed a police complaint on January 17 afternoon, police checked CCTV footage in the area and found that he had spent the night, when he claimed to have been abducted, at Ingthan Place, a daily rental lodging in Samut Prakarn’s Muang district, before leaving the place at 11.57am on January 17. Police also found he had used an ATM at the time he claimed he was abducted.
Mongkol also faces an arrest warrant issued by Bangkok Military Court for deserting the military, which he was serving in December 2019.
Mongkol was charged with violating Section 173 of the criminal code, which stipulates that whoever gives information of an offence, knowing well that such an offence was not committed, to the inquiry official or the official having the power to investigate criminal cases, shall be imprisoned for not more than three years and fined not more than Bt6,000.
Muang Samut Prakarn police chief Pol. Colonel Termrat Jindarat said that officials arrested Mongkol while he was visiting a relative in Lopburi province.
“Police have opposed bail for the suspect, as there is a high possibility of him escaping,” he added. “He will be held at Muang Samut Prakarn Police Station for questioning and would later be sent to the Bangkok Military Court.”
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha
(File Photo)
