As it stands, there are over 253,000 cases of Coronavirus across the world with a shocking 10,406 fatality cases. In Thailand, there has been 1 fatality to date with 177 residents infected and 41 who have recovered. In a bid for the UK to learn best practices from other countries who are controlling the outbreak to a high standard, The Made in Group spoke to a British Citizen currently living in Thailand.
The UK currently has over 3,000 Coronavirus cases, 144 fatalities and 65 people have recovered. This is a significant amount more than Thailand, a country that is twice the size of the UK. However, the UK is still able to follow in the footsteps of countries that are controlling the spread of the virus to a greater standard, including countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
Daniel Flavel, an English teacher currently working in Southern Thailand, is a UK resident and has been living there for the past 8 months. During his stay, Daniel has visited various cities such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai during the pandemic outbreak.
70-80% of the cases recorded in Thailand have been in Bangkok - one of the most popular cities in the country. Daniel said when he visited there the outbreak of cases were just beginning, he added:
“It was predicted that Bangkok would be the most affected outside of China, because of how popular it is. I was unsure whether to visit Bangkok at the time, but I decided to go because there was a low level of cases.”
“When I visited, there weren't many procedures in place, that I noticed, to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus. The one thing I did notice was everyone wearing masks, but this was mainly on planes and in the airport.”
Daniel noticed that though the virus was not as prominent during the time he visited, the streets of Bangkok were not as busy as expected and hand sanitizer was being heavily used by its residents. However as published by The Bangkok Post, yesterday 19th March, the army has now begun disinfecting the roads to combat the spread. This is a spray that consists of water and disinfectant which will be used on the streets every day. The cleaning will take place from 1 am until 5 am until the end of the month.
Living in Hatyai, a city close to the Maylasian border, Daniel has experienced strict procedures in place regarding the spread of the virus, including the building he lives in. To reach his apartment in the building block, Daniel uses a lift that has measures in place to practice social distancing. This includes footprint marks to encourage users to face the wall with a note stating: “please stand on the foot image to tackle the risk being infected by COVID-19.” This is accompanied by complimentary cotton buds to wipe down the pushbuttons in the lift, a highly used touchpoint.
Before entering the apartment complex, each person has their temperature checked by the security people who are wearing protective masks. This happens every time a person enters the building, whether they have left and returned or not.
Outside of the apartment complex, Daniel has noticed bars shutting down and at the school where he works, assemblies have been canceled to mitigate risk further. Most schools within Thailand have been closed completely on top of this. Daniel said that the preventions mentioned have been enforced more in the past week.
In the last couple of days, residents across the UK have noticed an increase in public places taking part in social distancing. In addition to this, UK schools have also been closed, as announced by the Government, unless certain pupils are required to do so. The image below shows an image taken today, 20th March, in Macdonalds where customers were required to stand in designated boxes.
