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Reuters
Reuters
Health

Thailand marks 28 days without local transmission, aims to ease travel

FILE PHOTO: A man walks on a street after the government eased some protective measures following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand June 19, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Thailand hopes to ease some coronavirus restrictions on foreigners entering the country after going for 28 days without recording any domestic transmissions, a senior official said on Monday.

Those who will benefit from the easing of restrictions will include business executives, skilled workers and foreigners who live in Thailand.

"The first three groups will be able to return to Thailand and stay in 14-day state quarantine," said the spokesman for the government's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, Taweesin Wisanuyothin.

Medical tourists will also be allowed back for treatment in hospital, he said.

Short-term business travellers and tourists from China, Japan and South Korea might be allowed back without having to spend 14 days in quarantine, he said, adding that the guidelines were still being worked out.

The proposed easing of restrictions will be put to the government's coronavirus task force on Friday.

Thailand, which has banned international commercial flights up to the end of June, has recorded 3,151 cases and 58 deaths related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

On Friday, Myanmar reported 23 coronavirus cases among Myanmar migrant workers deported from Thailand, raising questions about the possibility of transmission in Thailand.

Both Thailand and Myanmar are investigating.

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Martin Petty, Robert Birsel)

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