Six schools in Chart Trakarn and Nakhon Thai districts of Thailand’s northern province of Phitsanulok have been ordered to close until further notice, after only one day of school reopening for the new school term on Monday, when the parents of a student and a cable technician were found to be infected with COVID-19.

The Phitsanulok provincial educational chief, Mr. Luechai Chunakha, said he received a report, from a subordinate in Chart Trakarn district, that the parents of a student at Huaychangthang School in Suan Miang sub-district, who had just returned from the Bon Kai community in Klong Toey district of Bangkok, were infected with the disease and several family members, including their two children at the school, are at high risk of getting infected.

As a result, the administrator of the school decided to close it and all students were told to get work assignments from their teachers and to do them at home.

Meanwhile, in Nakhon Thai district, a cable technician, who installed network cables at Kasetsookratbumrung, Banyaeng and Bannonghin schools, was found to be infected with COVID-19, forcing the schools to be closed by their administrators as a precautionary measure to protect the students.

Two other schools, Suan Miang Wittaya and Nakhonchumpittaya Ratchamangkalapisek in Chart Trakarn district, were also closed due to concerns over COVID-19 infections.

Mr. Luechai maintains that school administrators could order their schools to close if they feel that their students are at risk of infection and then notify their direct superiors immediately.

With the exception of schools in the Dark Red zone, which includes Bangkok, which remain closed until further notice, most schools across the country reopened for the new term on Monday.