Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Thailand makes US “low-risk” list for Covid-19

Published

Sunday, August 9, 2020 15:48

PHOTO: Chiang Rai Times

The latest US travel advisory names just 7 countries as being at low-risk for Covid-19 infection – and Thailand is among them. Although Thailand remains closed to most foreign visitors, and a leading epidemiologist is urging it to remain so for another 6-18 months, the secretary-general of the National Research Committee said today that the inclusion on the low-risk list is “a significant change and welcome news for Thailand.”

Other low-risk places on the list are New Zealand, Fiji and islands in the Caribbean, including Bonorae, Saba and Saint Barthélemy.

The travel advisory is prepared by the US State Department and the Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention, based on periodic infection assessments, travel problems, basic healthcare infrastructure and medical professionals, as well as the management of disease control at each location.

Of the world’s 241 countries and territories, 207 are in the high-risk group, 13 in the very low-risk group, including Brunei, Laos, Macau, Taiwan, and Timor-Leste, and there is insufficient information to enable assessment of the remaining countries and territories.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World

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5 Comments

Peter Eichelsheim

Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 4:12 pm

The headline is easily misinterpreted

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state propaganda

Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 4:20 pm

it’s a misleading title – thailand is 7th in the group of 13 lowest risk.
State propaganda is never bad for boosting some nationalism, xenophobia and racism. Welcome now to Bangkok Midnight Marathon and Chiang Mai Marathon

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Perceville Smithers

Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 5:01 pm

Does the U.S.earn a spot on any lists?

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- Jack Sombra
  
  Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 5:11 pm
  
  Worth noteing, there is another category, ‘no risk’ Taiwan and 2 other countries are on that list
  
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Rinky Stingpiece

Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 5:45 pm

Whilst I can believe that there are hardly any cases in Laos… simply because there’s a low population density, and in reality there are hardly any people walking about, even in the largest towns… I doubt the testing regime there is anywhere near as comprehensive as in the USA.

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Jack Burton

Jack Burton is an American writer, broadcaster, linguist and journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. A native of the state of Georgia, he attended the The University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism, which hands out journalism's prestigious Peabody Awards. His works have appeared in The China Post, The South China Morning Post, The International Herald Tribune and many magazines throughout Asia and the world. He is fluent in Mandarin and has appeared on television and radio for decades in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

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