Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed, on Monday, 122 new cases of coronavirus. It is the second day that the country has seen a rise of 100 or more patients.

There are now 721 confirmed patients in Thailand with 668 still in hospitals, 52 have been released from hospital, and 1 death.

The ministry said that around 30,000 people around the country have come in for coronavirus testing with 10,000 marked as persons of interest. Of that number, around 400 were confirmed to have the virus.

Ministry spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanayothin told reporters that the public should not come in for tests if they do not fall in at-risk categories because it wastes resources and time for healthcare officials.

Dr Taweesin added that the reason for a large increase in numbers is because of more extensive testing outside of Bangkok and the ministry lowering their confirmation requirements from a two-lab system to a one-lab system.

Citizens’ choice

The ministry said that Thailand was currently at a crossroads when it came to the coronavirus outbreak.

If the citizens were responsible and practiced social distancing and self-isolation, the country would go the way of Taiwan and Japan see numbers come down and ‘the curve’ flatten.

However, if the public still chose to congregate, to travel and to be socially irresponsible, Thailand would go the way of European countries and see a massive spike in cases and a rise in the death toll.

Returnees

The Ministry of Public Health said on Sunday that it advised against provincial returns for workers as it could spread the disease to various regions that did not have or had little coronavirus cases.

Thousands of Thai and foreign migrant-workers defied advice from the Ministry of Public Health and returned to their home provinces and countries on Sunday night as Bangkok closed malls and businesses to fight against the outbreak of coronavirus.

It is unclear how many of the foreign migrant workers would be able to return to their country of origin after provincial governors and the Ministry of Interior ordered the closure of many border crossings.