09 May, 2021
Pattaya plans aggressive testing to bring the area’s Covid-19 outbreak under control.
Banglamung District has offered free tests at the municipal office this past week. Pattaya and the Social Security Office will begin a week of testing on May 11 at Pattaya School No. 8 for 4,000 self-insured workers in the hotel, hospitality and retail sectors.
Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai said May 7 that city businesses need submit lists of all their employees and they will be informed when tests will be administered.
He said that this was the only way to identify anyone who has contracted the coronavirus and prevent them from spreading it to their coworkers and customers.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary of the National Economic and Social Development Council, earlier said that fear over the third coronavirus wave has caused uncertainty in the business sector and would become critical if another wave hits.
Businesses impacted by the first and second waves still struggling to recover will not have a chance and will be wiped out. He said that it is imperative that the country controls the spread of Covid-19 and that people are vaccinated as soon as possible.
Pattaya residents have plenty of fear about the future. “We try to be very thrifty, but our savings are dwindling to almost zero, and we are terrified of what will happen to us and our families when we don’t have any money,” said one hotel worker interviewed May 7.
“Pattaya has become more of a ghost town than ever before,” lamented a restaurant owner. “The town that never sleeps is now in a deep coma and we don’t know when it will awaken again.”
