Bang Khae Covid 'won't be new wave'
published : 15 Mar 2021 at 09:15
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Post Reporters
The Department of Disease Control (DDC) on Sunday said a new cluster of Covid-19 infections in Bang Khae district will not become a new wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) tested 4,046 people in several markets in Bang Khae between March 7-13. Of them, 96 tested positive for Covid, and the rest were awaiting the results.
The 96 cases were from 2,335 people tested at Wonder Market. The BMA said 764 of them tested negative and the results of the rest are pending.
Another 1,711 people who were tested at another six markets nearby were also waiting for the results.
DDC director-general Opas Karnkawinpong said the new cluster was found at markets in Bang Khae because the markets are located close to each other, covering a large area, with at least 1,000 people constantly moving in and out.
Some of the markets have low ceilings with poor ventilation, Dr Opas said, adding that most vendors were Thai while their employees were migrant workers.
"Even though vendors wore masks, they still kept them below their noses. Failing to wear masks properly will heighten the risk of infection,'' Dr Opas said.
The infected people from markets in Bang Khae were vendors and their employees. There had been no reports of customers being infected.
"This is a new cluster, but not a new wave of an outbreak. New cases have been found constantly, though the number is still small. However, with cooperation from market operators, vendors and the public, the situation will be brought under control shortly,'' Dr Opas said.
Bang Khae is the third market to become a Covid-19 hotspot following the outbreaks in Pathum Thani and Samut Sakhon.
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Vocabulary
- awaiting: waiting for something to happen - ที่รอคอย
- ceiling: the top inside surface of a room - เพดาน
- cluster: group of people, animals or things close together - กลุ่ม
- constantly: continuously; all the time - อย่างต่อเนื่อง
- cooperation: working together to achieve a result that will benefit all sides - ความร่วมมือ, การทำงานร่วมกัน
- heighten: (of emotions) to cause to become stronger - เพิ่ม, ทำให้แข็งแรงขึ้น,ทำให้สำคัญขึ้น
- migrant worker: someone who travels to another place or country in order to find work - คนงานต่างถิ่น
- pending: waiting to be dealt with, settled or completed - ยังค้างอยู่, ซึ่งยังไม่จบสิ้น, อยู่ในระหว่าง
- test positive: to show in a medical test that a particular virus, bacteria, disease or drug is present in the body - ตรวจพบว่าติดเชื้อ
- vendors: people who sell things, e.g., food or newspapers, usually outside on the street - พ่อค้าแม่่ค้าหาบแร่แผงลอย
- ventilation: the movement of fresh air around a room or building, or a system that allows this to happen - การระบายลม
- wave: an activity or situation which is happening again or is being repeated after a pause -
