Thailand facing second COVID wave as over 100,000 employees have lost their jobs

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• Authorities recommend tighter restrictions on businesses and people’s movements in 28 provinces, including capital Bangkok.

• More than 100,000 employees in Thailand have lost their jobs or been suspended from work as over 6,000 businesses in 28 red-zone provinces closed in the wake of the new COVID-19 outbreak

• Authorities in Bangkok earlier on Saturday ordered the closing down of schools for two weeks and the temporary closure of daycare centres, gyms, bars and massage shops.

Health authorities in Thailand have recommended tougher restrictions on businesses and people’s movements in 28 provinces, including the capital, Bangkok, as the number of new coronavirus cases rises.

The measures, which need final approval from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, include suspending some businesses and crowded activities that pose infection risks to the public, while recommending people in these provinces work from home and avoid unnecessary travel out of their province, the Aljazeera reported.

Authorities in Bangkok earlier on Saturday ordered the closing down of schools for two weeks and the temporary closure of daycare centres, gyms, bars and massage shops.

Shopping malls, restaurants, beauty salons, swimming pools and public parks remain open with strict social distancing guidelines but some officials have suggested that further restrictions on dine-in eating may be imposed in the capital and other high-risk provinces.

More than 100,000 employees in Thailand have lost their jobs or been suspended from work as over 6,000 businesses in 28 red-zone provinces closed in the wake of the new COVID-19 outbreak.

Thai Minister of Labour Suchart Chomklin said that insured workers left unemployed due to the pandemic could begin applying for compensation payments from January 4.

The payment system has been improved to ensure employees receive compensation more quickly than the first outbreak early last year, he added.

Thai authorities and health workers are racing to curb the spread of a new wave of local infections. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has imposed a new set of restrictions on business activities and gatherings in Bangkok and 27 of its worst-affected provinces from January 4 to contain the outbreak.

The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) plans to reassess Thailand’s economic outlook in 2021 as stronger state measures against the new outbreak have begun to affect employment in at-risk provinces.

A surge in daily infections since late last year, with a record of 745 new cases on January 4, illustrated that several business sectors, particularly restaurants, are suffering.

The situation prompted the JSCCIB to reconsider the impact of the pandemic on the economy, said Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

Last month, the JSCCIB said it expected a better economic outlook in 2021, with exports expanding by 3-5 percent, GDP growing by 2-4 percent and inflation to be kept at 0.8-1.2 percent.

As of January 4, Thailand had logged a total 8,439 COVID-19 infections, with a death toll of 65 according to a report by VNA.