Two more COVID-19 cases among recent arrivals were recorded today, with no locally acquired infections reported for 15 days.

CCSA assistant spokesperson Dr. Pannapha Yongtrakul said that one of the two new cases arrived from Saudi Arabia and entered a state quarantine facility in the southern border province of Pattani. The second, arrived from the Netherlands and entered state quarantine in Bangkok.

Although there has not been a single case of locally-transmitted infection in Thailand for 15 days, she said that, according to epidemiological principles, the safe period should be twice the length of the 14-day incubation period.

She pointed out that, in most countries experiencing second waves of COVID-19 outbreaks, the majority of the new cases are in clusters and are asymptomatic, hence the need to be vigilant and to continue to observe basic safety guidelines, such as frequent hand washing, the wearing of face masks in public and social distancing.

Thailand’s cumulative infections to date are 3,119, with 2,973 recoveries and 90 others still in hospital.  The death toll remains 58.

More people have return to their offices to work, during the third phase of lockdown easing, and Dr. Pannapha observed that many are not maintaining social distancing while having lunch. She suggested that food shops apply staggered lunch time services to reduce congestion at their shops.

In New Zealand, Dr. Pannapha said the Government there, which had mandated some of the world’s toughest lockdown restrictions, has lifted the social distancing rule, after the country did not record a single new infection for 17 days.

Globally, cumulative infections to date total 7,193,988, with 408,628 deaths (5.68%).

The United States leads the global ranking with over two million infections, followed by Brazil and Russia. In Asia, India has seen the most infections, with Thailand currently ranked 83^rd worldwide.