BANGKOK, Mar 10 (NNN-TNA) – Thailand’s health authorities approved yesterday, a four-step plan to support the country’s transition to the COVID-19 endemic phase by July 1.
Approved at a meeting, held by the National Communicable Disease Committee (NCDC), the plan aims to gradually contain the surge of new infections and deaths caused by the latest Omicron variant, and prepare the country to treat the virus as an endemic.
The decision was made to help Thailand’s economy recover from the pandemic, as well as, protect public health by implementing strict measures accordingly, Public Health Minister, Anutin Charnvirakul told the press, after chairing the meeting.
According to health officials, from Saturday to early Apr, the country will still see a further rise in infections, while from Apr to May, the number of cases is predicted to remain high but will start to decline.
The third stage, from late May to June, is expected to see a major reduction of daily infections to some 1,000 to 2,000, before the country enters the endemic phase, from July 1.
Thai officials highlighted that, in order to achieve an endemic status, the COVID-19 driven fatality rate must not exceed 0.1 percent. Currently, this rate is close to 0.2 percent.
Thailand yesterday reported 22,073 new COVID-19 cases and 69 deaths, bringing its total tally to 3.09 million with 23,438 fatalities.
As of Tuesday, around 71.7 percent of the country’s nearly 70 million population had been fully vaccinated, while 30.6 percent had received booster shots.– NNN-TNA
