Thailand ends curfew, having seen no local coronavirus cases in 21 days

Thailand lifted a nationwide curfew on Monday after more than two months, as the coronavirus crisis eased, with 21 days having passed since the last recorded case of local transmission.

The Southeast Asian nation of around 70 million people was the first country outside China to report a case of coronavirus, on January 13. Since then it has reported 3,135 confirmed cases and 58 fatalities, Reuters said. Some 2,987 patients have recovered.

On Monday, schools with less than 120 students were allowed to reopen, as well as exhibition halls, music concerts, film productions, playgrounds, amusement parks and sports competitions without spectators. Pubs, bars and karaoke outlets will remain closed. However, restaurants that reopened two weeks ago with social distancing will now be able to serve alcohol.

Monday was the second time in five days that Thailand reported no new cases. All new cases in the past three weeks have been found in quarantine among Thais returning from abroad, according to the government.