People wearing masks walk on street in Bangkok, Thailand, March 5, 2020. Thailand is manufacturing as many as 50 million cloth masks which will be provided for people nationwide to wear against the COVID-19 outbreak, confirmed Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak)
BANGKOK, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Thailand is manufacturing as many as 50 million cloth masks which will be provided for people nationwide to wear against the COVID-19 outbreak, confirmed Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda on Wednesday.
To assure no shortage in health masks for all people against the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has assigned all local administrative organizations under the care of the Ministry of Interior throughout the country to manufacture some 50 million cloth masks beginning this week, according to the interior minister.
They are expected to be available for distribution to the people nationwide from next week, he said.
Meanwhile, all Thai nationals who are returning home from Daegu city and Gyeongsang province in South Korea will be quarantined at specific places after they have arrived in Thailand for 14 days though they may not be found to have a fever or be infected with the COVID-19 at airports, said Disease Control Department Director General Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai.
Those who may come from South Korea's cities or provinces other than Daegu and Gyeongsang will not be quarantined under care of authorities and will be allowed to go home where they will constantly watch themselves for 14 days, the director general said.
He said 19 Thai nationals who came from South Korea on Monday and Tuesday were found to have had a fever and are currently quarantined.
As many as 5,000 Thais are expected to return home shortly from South Korea in the face of the pandemic. More than 22,000 Thais are currently employed in that country, either legally or illegally.
