Nurses hold newborn babies wearing protective face shields during the coronavirus disease outbreak at the Praram 9 hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, April 9.

Thailand has reported more than 2,400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 32 deaths.

Thailand approved a plan Wednesday to allow all foreigners who entered legally to receive automatic visa extensions, to prevent long queues at immigration centers and stem the spread of the coronavirus, a senior immigration official told Reuters.

Thailand has closed its borders and banned entry to foreigners, except diplomats and work-permit holders to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

Those foreigners who entered the country before the ban was imposed – who had visas, received visas on arrival or under visa waiver programs - will not need to line up at often crowded immigration centers around the country to extend their stay.

The automatic visa extension has been granted until April 30, according to an interior ministry document. Police Lieutenant General Sompong Chingduang told Reuters the government could extend this deadline each month.

(Reuters)