Risk Assessment Report – 23 December 2020
Risk Assessment Report – 23 December 2020
Rapid Risk Assessment
December 23, 2020
Risk Assessment Report – 23 December 2020
Time Period Covered December 23, 2020 - December 23, 2020
- Worldwide, there have been over 78.1 million cases and more than 1.71 million deaths attributed to COVID-19.
- On December 21, media sources reported the first cases of COVID-19 in Antarctica. Approximately 36 new infections were confirmed at a Chilean military base (General Bernardo O’Higgins Research Base), which included 26 army members and 10 maintenance workers. All 36 individuals who tested positive for the virus are currently in isolation in Punta Arenas, Chile and are said to be in stable condition. A new group of replacement personnel was quarantined, tested, and sent to replace the affected group in Antarctica. The uninhabited continent usually has between 1,000 to 5,000 scientists and support staff residents who stay throughout the winter at research facilities. As a result of this outbreak, all major research projects have been halted. With the confirmation of cases in the antarctic, the pandemic has now affected all continents.
- 427 new cases were reported in Thailand on December 22, bring the country’s total number of COVID-19 cases to 5,716. For nearly seven months, the seven-day rolling average number of daily new cases remained in the single-digits. Thailand, the first country to record a case of COVID-19 outside of China, has been largely successful in mitigating the spread of the virus due to strict entry requirements, and a robust contact tracing network. However, a large cluster of cases tied to a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon province has resulted in the country’s worst outbreak to date. The market, which has since been closed, serves as a commercial hub for seafood in Thailand — an industry in which thousands of migrant workers are involved. Four cases were identified from the market on December 18, and by December 20 this number had grown to 689. Migrant workers represented over three-quarters of positive tests. Early investigations indicate that all incident cases are linked to a 67-yearold seafood vendor, who has no travel history of leaving the country. In the past few days alone, the outbreak has resulted in more than 1,100 confirmed infections (for context, Thailand had previously reported fewer than 5,000 cases of COVID-19 since January 1, 2020). As a result, the entire province has been placed under lockdown and midnight to 5 a.m. curfew is in effect. Upwards to 40,000 people are currently being tested in Samut Sakhon and nearby provinces as a precaution. Additionally, health officials have recommended that buyers from more than 20 provinces who had visited the shrimp market between December 1 to 18, should get tested. Schools in three districts of Bangkok, which share a border with Samut Sakhon, have been ordered to close until January 4, 2021. The event comes mere days after Thai officials decided to relax travel restrictions for citizens from over 50 countries, in an effort to stimulate tourism. Among others, travellers from Australia, France, and the United States will be able to enter Thailand, visa-free, although documentation of a negative PCR test for COVID-19 within 72 hours, and a reservation to an approved quarantine hotel is required for all arrivals. Visitors must now complete three COVID19 tests during a 14-day quarantine, up from two previously required. Other visa extensions have been noted.
Risk Assessment Report – 23 December 2020