More than 524,000 room nights have been booked at Phuket hotels since the sandbox scheme commenced and the island’s borders reopened to international tourists 11 weeks ago, a government spokesman said.
The spokesman for the CCSA (Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration), Taweesilp Visanuyothin, stated on Wednesday that since the island reopened on July 1 visitors had stayed for 524,221 hotel nights, including 190,860 nights in July, 176,121 nights in August, and 157,240 nights as of Tuesday.
Phuket has received 32,005 visits in total, and only 91 of them, 0.28%, tested positive for Covid-19, he also explained.
Most tourists have come from the United States, totaling 5,668 since July, followed by Israel with 3,699, the United Arab Emirates with 3,358, the United Kingdom with 3,338, Germany with 2,897, France with 2,671, Switzerland with 1,101, Qatar with 1,004, the Netherlands with 693, and Belgium with 521.
On Wednesday, provincial officials reported that 284 visitors arrived in Phuket, adding that they had all tested negative for Covid-19.
In the past 24 hours, 229 Thai and migrant workers were confirmed to have tested positive for Covid-19 after locally catching the virus.
However, health authorities have already started treatment procedures with these cases, Dr. Taweesilp mentioned in a statement.
The provincial government adjusted local health resources for the task, as 90% of the cases were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, with 10% needing to be admitted to hospital, he went on to reveal.
In the latest measures imposed on Phuket, visitors were required to spend only 7 nights instead of 14 before being authorized to travel to other destinations, including the island’s resorts and beaches in other provinces such as Surat Thani, Phangnga, and Krabi.
This situation brought additional benefits to these provinces, where hotel occupancy levels reached 7,135 room nights this month, comprised of 3,936 room nights in Surat Thani, 1,936 in Phangnga, and 1,263 in Krabi.
Phuket has registered more than 200 new Covid-19 infections per day, but the figure includes workers from other provinces, the permanent secretary for health Kiatiphum Wongrajit told reporters.
Meanwhile, officials in Phuket soon plan to accelerate vaccinations’ provision for workers, Dr. Kiatiphum also mentioned.
