The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Monday that the weak high-pressure system covering upper Thailand and the South China Sea would cause morning fog, with dense fog in some areas. Cool weather continues in the North and the Northeast, while mountaintops are cold to very cold.
Motorists in upper Thailand should proceed with caution due to poor visibility, the department said.
Meanwhile, the weakening northeast monsoon over the Gulf and the South results in less rain over the South.
The department also said that from December 30 to January 3, the strong high pressure from China will extend to cover upper Thailand. Cool to cold weather will be likely over upper Thailand with a 4-6 degrees Celsius drop in temperature and strong winds.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Cool weather with fog in the morning and dense fog in some areas; minimum temperature 16-22 degrees Celsius, maximum 31-36°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 6-13°C.
Northeast: Cool weather with fog in the morning and dense fog in some areas; minimum temperature 18-23°C, maximum 34-35°C; temperature on hilltops is likely to drop to 12-16°C.
Central: Fog in the morning and dense fog in some areas; minimum temperature 23-25°C, maximum 35-37°C.
East: Partly cloudy with fog in the morning; minimum temperature 24-26°C, maximum 32-36°C; waves 1-2 metres high and two metres off shore.
South (east coast): Partly cloudy with thundershowers in 20 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 23-24°C, maximum 31-33°C; waves 1-2 metres high and two metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Partly cloudy with thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; minimum temperature 22-26°C, maximum 31-34°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Fog in the morning; minimum temperature 25-27°C, maximum 33-36°C.
The governor of Rayong said 49 additional cases of Covid-19 were found in the province, taking the total to 85.
He said many of the new cases were linked to a gambling den. He said the province was considering opening a field hospital to accommodate the increasing number of patients.
Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha said at the press conference that Rayong needs more “strong medicine”, asking people at risk to take a test for free. Temporarily Covid-19 checkpoints are set up at Noen Urai Flea Market with 400 tests offered per day.
Rayong governor Charnna Iamsaeng said that the numbers were expected to increase due to proactive testing. The timeline of patients is set to be published soon.
In the future, Rayong may have to set up a field hospital to accommodate the growing number of patients, he said.
“Rayong has not locked down. People can travel in and out normally, without quarantine. “Tourist attractions are still open because the infected people live in Muang district, while no cases have been found in other districts,” the governor said.
Rayong provincial public health office chief Sunthorn Rheanpumikankit said that at the moment they are accelerating the timeline data of everyone. They have prepared all three hospitals — Rayong Hospital, Klaeng Hospital, and Map Ta Phut Hospital — for treatment.
At the moment, the symptoms of the patients are not severe, the governor said.
Huamak Police Station is investigating the case of a 51-year-old woman who fell to her death from an eight-storey hotel in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district on Sunday.
The hotel is serving as a state quarantine centre.
Police in protective suit found the woman’s body on the second floor awning of the hotel. Outsiders were immediately blocked from entering the area.
According to the case history of the deceased, she had taken a flight from South Korea at 11.10pm on December 24 and checked in at the hotel at 1.52am on December 25 to undergo quarantine. Her first Covid-19 test was negative.
Police are investigating the scene and interrogating witnesses to determine whether the deceased had jumped or fallen before sending the body for autopsy.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Sunday published on Sunday the timeline of the city’s 14th to 21st Covid-19 cases in the recent outbreak.
The details were revealed on the Facebook page of BMA spokesman Pongsakorn “Earth” Kwanmuang.
▪︎ A 55-year-old man
December 13: He goes to a market in Samut Sakhon to set up lights and CCTV cameras.
December 14: At 8am, he goes to an educational institute in Nakhon Pathom to drop off his daughter. From
11am to 5pm, he visits a market in Samut Sakhon to set up lights and CCTV cameras. At 6pm, he goes to a pharmacy to buy medicine.
December 15: From11am to 5pm, he visits a market in Samut Sakhon to set up lights and CCTV cameras. At 6pm, he goes to a pharmacy to buy medicine.
December 17: At 10am, he visits a market in Thawi Watthana district to buy pork and vegetables. He has fever.
December 19: He goes to a department store and amulet market in Petchakasem district.
December 20: He goes to a hospital in Nong Khaem district. He has cough.
December 22: An ambulance takes him to hospital.
▪︎ A 51-year-old woman
December 18: From 7am to 6pm, she goes to a market in Onnut district to sell seafood.
December 19: From 7am to 6pm, she goes to a market in Onnut district to sell seafood. From 7pm to 7.40pm, she visits a department store and convenience store in Onnut district to buy goods.
December 20: From 7am to 6pm, she visits a market in Onnut district to sell seafood.
December 23: She takes the Covid-19 test.
December 24: She tests positive. Later, BMA’s Erawan Centre takes her to a hospital in Bangkok.
▪︎ A 27-year woman
December 9-19: From 10am to 8pm, she goes to a market in Pathum Thani to sell seafood. From 9pm to 3am, she goes to a market in Samut Sakhon to buy seafood.
December 20: She suffers from headache, nausea, numb tongue and sore throat.
December 21: She goes to a market near her dormitory in Sai Mai to buy food.
December 22: She takes a Covid-19 test at a private hospital.
December 23: She tests positive.
▪︎ A 55-year-old man
December 13: From 6am to noon, he is on Phaholyothin Road to sell his goods.
December 14: From 6am to noon, he is on Phaholyothin Road to sell his goods. From 8pm to 3am, he goes to a market in Samut Sakhon to buy goods.
December 15: He has fever, sore throat, headache and feels tired.
December 16: From 8pm to 3am, he goes to a market in Samut Sakhon to buy goods.
December 17: He goes to Phaholyothin Road in the morning and a market in Lak Si district in the afternoon to sell his goods. He feels numbness on the tongue.
December 18: In the morning, he goes to a market in Chaeng Wattana district to sell goods. From 8pm to 3am, he goes to a market in Samut Sakhon to buy goods.
December 19-20: In the morning, he goes to Phaholyothin Road to sell his goods.
December 21: In the morning, he goes to a public hospital in Bangkok. In the afternoon, he goes to a market in Ram-Indra district to sell goods. From 8pm to 3am, he is at a market in Samut Sakhon to buy goods.
December 22: He goes to a public hospital in Bangkok. He tests positive.
▪︎ A 33-year-old woman
December 15: She visits a temple in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya with her family. She buys flowers from Myanmar retailers.
December 19: She goes to a market in Samut Sakhon with her family. Later, she goes to Nonthaburi to sell shaved ice with her husband.
December 21: She goes to a private hospital as she suffers from fever, cough and sore throat.
December 22: At 7am, she goes to a market in Bangkok Noi district. At 8am, she meets her mother and a papaya salad retailer in Taling Chan district. From 11am to 5pm, she is in Nonthaburi province to sell shaved ice with her husband. A private hospital contacts her that day about her test being found positive.
December 23: A private hospital’s ambulance takes her to another private hospital in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.
▪︎ A 49-year-old man
December 8-13: He goes to a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon.
December 14: He visits a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon. From 6pm-9pm, he visits a department store in Pathumwan to have dinner and buy cosmetics.
December 15: He goes to a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon.
December 16 and 19: He goes to a bank on Petchakasem Road.
December 22: He goes to a private hospital in Bangkok to receive medical treatment.
▪︎ A 23-year-old woman
December 8: She works at a company in Bang Sue district. She goes to a market in Bang Son district.
December 9: She reports for work as usual.
December 10: She eats at a shabu restaurant in Lak Si district, in her house in Bang Sue district, at noodle and dessert shops in Sri Yan district.
December 11: She reports for work and goes to a restaurant that day.
December 12: She goes to a karaoke shop in a department store.
December 13: She goes to a market in Bang Sue district to sell foods with her mother.
December 14-15: She works at a company in Bang Sue district. She goes to a noodle shop in Bang Son district that day.
December 16-18: She works at a company in Bang Sue district.
December 19: She attends an ordination ceremony, goes to a noodle shop and a department store in Bang Sue district.
December 20: She visits a department store. Later, she goes to a market to sell foods with her mother.
December 21: She works at a company in Bang Sue district. Later, she takes leave to get a Covid-19 test done at a private hospital. She has a runny nose.
December 22: She goes to a private hospital to receive medical treatment. Her test us found positive.
▪︎ A 28-year-old woman:
December 13: She dines at a restaurant in Samut Sakhon.
December 14: She goes to a grocery store near her dormitory to buy goods.
December 15: She works at a department store in Pathumwan district and dines with her friends.
December 16: She attends a friend’s birthday party in Rama IV district.
December 19: She reports for work at the department store in Pathumwan district. The store owner advises her to test for Covid-19 because she had visited a high-risk area for infection.
December 21: She takes a Covid-19 test at a private hospital.
December 22: She goes to a private hospital for medical treatment and tests positive.
A 42-year-old woman has been confirmed as the first Covid-19 patient in Sukhothai province.
The woman had a history of travelling to Samut Sakhon province, the
Disease Investigation Team of Sukhothai Provincial Public Health Office said.
The woman is a masseuse by profession at Mahachai subdistrict in the Muang district of Samut Sakhon.
Her timeline:
December 25: At 6am, she leaves Mahachai for Sukhothai with her 30-year-old boyfriend and a 52-year-old female friend in a private car.
At 9am, they stop at a petrol station in Ayutthaya province.
At 11am, they stop at a restaurant in Nakhon Sawan province.
At 3pm, she arrives in her hometown in Ban Kluai subdistrict, in the Muang district of Sukhothai and reports to health volunteers to be checked for Covid-19 at Sukhothai Hospital and to quarantine at home for a period of 14 days
At 5pm, she is tested for Covid-19 at Sukhothai Hospital.
December 26: At
10pm, she is confirmed positive.
December 27: At 8am, Sukhothai Hospital sends an ambulance to pick up her two high-risk contacts (her boyfriend and the friend). Both of them test negative. Eight other low-risk contacts are now in quarantine.
A 32-year-old Thai woman working in an animal feed factory has been confirmed as infected with Covid-19, the first case in Lopburi province.
The woman lived with friends at a house in Mahachai subdistrict in the Muang district of Samut Sakhon province, a Lopburi Public Health officer said.
The patient confirmed that she had worn a mask at all times outside the house.
The timeline to her positive test:
December 10-18: She lives in her residence in Samut Sakhon.
December 19: She leaves at
5am from Samut Sakhon to Mo Chit Bus Terminal by motorcycle taxi and taxi, wearing a mask all the time.
8.30am: Departure from Mo Chit back to her house in Kong Thanu subdistrict, in the Muang district of Lopburi province. She reports to officers and health volunteers and quarantines herself in the house.
December 20: From
8.30am to 9.30am, she gies out to vote in the Provincial Administration Organisation (PAO) elections in front of a mill near Wat Bot temple. At the PAO election booth, there were only election staff members. She said she was wearing a mask, her temperature was checked, she washed her hands with alcohol-based gel, wore gloves and approached a separate booth.
December 21-24:
She remained in home quarantine in a house and came to know on December 25 that a friend who lived with her in Samut Sakhon was infected with Covid-19.
December 25: She experienced sore throat in the morning and immediately notified health volunteers and went to King Narai Hospital for a Covid-19 test, wearing a mask and riding alone on the back of a pickup truck.
December 26: At 1am, Phra Narai Maharaj Hospital sends an ambulance to pick her up for treatment in a separate hospital room.
At 8pm, her positive test for Covid-19 is confirmed.
Nakhon Pathom provincial authorities have launched four measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Nakhon Pathom Governor Surasak Charoensirichot signed the order on Saturday.
The first order makes it mandatory for entrepreneurs to implement measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, such as creating awareness among employees, providing face masks and hand sanitising gels, screening employees’ health, preventing employees from entering areas with risk of infection and instructing employees to undergo the Public Health Ministry’s Covid-19 preventive measures.
The second order imposes curfew hours on venues with risk of infection, such as gaming centres, internet cafes, department stores, theatres, massage shops, snooker shops, restaurants, pubs, bars, karaoke shops and fishing ponds. The announcement includes a ban on selling alcoholic drinks.
The third order temporarily closes cockfighting stadiums in the province until the situation improves.
The fourth order bars the organising of events that can draw a lot of people, such as concerts, exhibitions, religious activities and sports competitions.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported 121 new patients, including 94 domestic cases, over a 24-hour period on Sunday.
The 94 domestic cases included 18 migrant workers found positive in proactive testing.
As for cases linked to the Samut Sakhon outbreak, Bangkok found 16 new patients, two in Krabi, one in Nakhon Sawan, two (a Myanmar and a Vietnamese) in Nonthaburi, one each in Narathiwat, Pathumthani, Surin, Samut Prakarn, Khon Kaen, Saraburi, three in Ratchaburi, five in Phetchaburi, eight in Rayong, and 11 in Nakhon Pathom.
Forty cases are still under investigation to track the source of infection — one in Bangkok, three each in Phetchaburi and Tak, two each in Nakhon Pathom and Nonthaburi, 28 in Rayong (gambling den cluster), and one in Samut Songkhram.
So far 38 provinces in Thailand have reported new cases.
Eight visitors from abroad were found positive in quarantine facilities. The new cases in quarantine facility comprised one Thai who had returned from Russia, one from Germany, two from Egypt, one Yemeni man travelled from the United Arab Emirate and three Swiss came from Sweden and Hungary.
A Myanmar driver was found positive at the border area and was deported to his country for treatment.
Meanwhile, nine patients have recovered and been discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand increased to 6,141 (1,435 in state quarantine and 1,356 from active case finding), of whom 1,902 are in hospital and ad-hoc quarantine facilities and 4,161 have recovered and been discharged, while 60 have died.
According to Worldometer as of 10am on Sunday, the total number of confirmed cases had increased to 80.71 million (up by 451,124), 56.9 million have recovered, 22 million are active cases (105,611 in severe condition) and 1.76 million have died (up by 7,108).
Thailand ranks 142nd for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number with 19.43 million, followed by India 10.18 million, Brazil 7.46 million, Russia 3 million and France 2.55 million.
By The NationPictures of a straight-edged cloud in Lampang province went viral on social media at noon on Saturday.
The pictures had been taken by netizens in the province, believing that it was a wonderful occurrence before the New Year festival.
A straight-edged cloud, also called cutting phenomenon, occurs as a result of change in climate when a high-pressure system is weakening and a low-pressure system is strengthening.
Surasak Charoensirichot
