COVID-19 alert over Bang Khae market cluster - Thai PBS World Tonight [15th March 2021]

The Bang Khae market COVID-19 cluster has, so far, increased to 107 infections in Bangkok, Suphan Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Phetchaburi and Samut Sakhon.

The CCSA assistant spokesperson Dr. Apisamai Srirangsan said today that health officials have been conducting proactive screening since March 11th by taking saliva specimens from 2,772 people in the Wonder fresh market and other markets in Bang Khae district, as well as in seven communities in the neighborhood.

Test results on 995 specimens show 107 people have been infected.

Dr. Apisamai said that the first case in the Bang Khae market cluster was a 21-year old vendor, selling eggs and chicken, in the Wonder market, who also serves as a “Thao share” (ท้าวแชร์) (an informal cash lending system offering cash from a pool of investors to the needy among the investors for a fee).

She explained that the “Thao share” (ท้าวแชร์) job means the man comes into contact with all the investors, in order to collect money periodically, and this contributed to the spread of the virus.

The man in question developed symptoms on March 1st with a high fever, coughs and anosmia. Four days later, he went to a hospital in Bangkok for an examination and was found to be infected.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has issued an urgent notice urging people in the city, who visited six markets in Bang Khae district between February 20th and March 13th, to contact the city’s health office, via its hotlines 02-203-2393 or 02-203-2396, immediately for COVID-19 screenings or log into http://bkkcovid.bangkok.go.th/.