Indonesia, Thailand take stronger actions against COVID-19

People at the arrival hall of the international airport in Bali on March 28, 2020. (Photo: straitstimes.com)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Indonesian Government has decided to ban all arrivals and transits of foreign nationals into the country to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a minister said on March 31.

Holders of stay permits, diplomats and other official visitors will be exempted from the ban, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said after a cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, the Thai Government has come up with a goal to cut public journeys by as much as 90 percent in order to flatten the curve of new coronavirus infections.

Compared to March 21, the number of journeys made by the public one week later on March 28 had decreased by 46 percent after the government began implementing measures to encourage residents not to take unnecessary trips, according to spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration(CCSA) Taweesin Visanuyothin.

Personal car use fell by 41 percent while the number of electric train passengers had fallen by 59 percent during the same period, he said. The number of inter-city train passengers had dropped by 65 percent while boat passengers went down by 40 percent, he added.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam asked TV operators to cancel boxing match broadcasts throughout April to curb the spread of the epidemic./.