“Get ready for Covid-19 to be declared endemic”

The Thai PM has ordered all provincial administrations to prepare for Covid-19 being declared endemic, by creating operation plans for their own provinces. According to government spokesman, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, the PM’s order follows the decision to downgrade Thailand’s Covid-19 alert from Level 4 to Level 3, with the prospect of declaring the coronavirus ‘endemic’ sometime soon.

Nation Thailand reports that the downgrade in alert levels comes as the number of Covid-19 patients on ventilators continues to fall since the April 1 ‘high’, along with the number of Covid-related deaths. Currently, the Covid situation has ‘plateaued’ in 23 provinces, while infections are falling in 53 provinces. Nationally, the trend for new infections continues to drop.

Despite the improving situation, the PM says the public must continue to “adhere to disease prevention measures and those who are still not vaccinated should come forward for inoculation as soon as possible”, so that Covid-19 can be declared endemic in Thailand.

According to the Public Health Ministry, Thailand reported 6,230 new infections yesterday (as detected from PCR testing), just 4 of which were imported. The country also reported 53 deaths in the same 24 hour period. There are currently 1,481 Covid-19 patients on ventilators and 18.5%% of the country’s Covid beds are occupied.

Today (Wednesday) officials reported 7,650 new infections, detected from PCR testing.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand