Thailand reports 102 new COVID-19 cases, 3 more deaths

BANGKOK: Thailand reported 102 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths, the country’s public health ministry said on Sunday (Apr 5).

The latest numbers raised the total in the Southeast Asian nation to 2,169 cases.

Twenty-three people have died in Thailand since the outbreak first emerged in January.

On Friday, police and soldiers set up hundreds of checkpoints across Thailand to enforce an indefinite nationwide curfew, banning most people from outside in a bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

The curfew includes exceptions for people transporting medical supplies and health workers travelling to and from work.

Authorities said police, army and other security forces would set up 421 checkpoints across the country to enforce it.

Thailand was the first country outside China to report a case of the new coronavirus, which since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year has infected more than one million people worldwide and killed at least 50,000.

Since last month, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has jumped from just a few dozen to more than 2,000, prompting more strict social isolation measures by the government.