A Descriptive Analysis of Situation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak in Entertainment Areas, Thailand

Abstract

The situation an outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) originated from a presence of patients with pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Later, evidence showed that COVID-19 was caused by novel coronavirus, known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 subsequently spread to many countries across the globe, including Thailand. Thailand found the first confirmed COVID-19 case, who was a traveler from China, on 8 January 2020. In early March 2020, the number of local cases soured exponentially due to the super-spreading events in boxing stadiums and entertainment areas in Thailand. The aim of this study is to analyze the situation of COVID-19 infection in entertainment areas in Thailand and assess possible risk factors that might contribute to further outbreaks. We used document reviews on the investigation reports, executive summary of COVID-19 investigation and the patient database of the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control (DDC), Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), and environmental survey through the observation in one of the entertainment venues that had ever faced COVID-19 outbreak. The results showed that Thailand experienced a sharp rise of COVID-19 cases in entertainment areas during the third week of March, 2020. The number of COVID-19 cases that had been involved in entertainment areas amounted to 463 out of the entire 3,090 cases nationwide (from January to May 2020), equivalent to 15.4%. Focusing on the first generation of COVID-19 from entertainment areas (those with direct exposure to entertainment areas), most of the patients were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. Two hundred and thirty cases were female (57.9%) and 205 cases (51.6%) worked as staff in the entertainment venues that had direct exposure with the guests. Subsequently, by late March 2020, the case toll declined after the government imposed policies to stop the operation of entertainment areas. The environmental survey on one of the entertainment venues revealed that arrangement of tables in that venue was quite congested and the air was poorly ventilated. In addition, some guests had ever shared dining cutlery with others Therefore, if the entertainment areas are planned to re-open or re-operate, the physical distancing policies should be strictly promulgated. In addition, the business owners should re-arrange the environment to lessen the risk of disease transmission and should emphasize the importance of hygiene behavior on the venue guests and staff.