File photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Thailand on Saturday (October 23) reported 9,742 new COVID-19 cases, 10,182 recoveries and 74 additional deaths over the past 24 hours.
▶︎ Total infections since April 1: 1,812,268
▶︎ Total recoveries since since April 1: 1,693,203
Saturday’s cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 1,841,131 with 18,699 deaths.
The news comes as Thailand announced rules on Friday for its quarantine-free reopening to visitors from 45 countries, in an effort to revive an economy struggling to recover from the collapse of its vital tourism sector.
Thailand, one of the Asia-Pacific’s most popular tourist destinations, has for the past 18 months enforced strict pandemic entry rules that have been criticised in the travel industry for being too restrictive and onerous.
COVID-19 has cost Thailand about 3 million tourism-dependent jobs and an estimated $50 billion a year in revenue. Since July it reopened Phuket and Samui islands in pilot projects.
(Source: – Asean Now)