BangkokPost-June 28
The Public Health Ministry is ready to usher in the post-pandemic era on Friday, permanent secretary for public health Kiattiphum Wongrajit said on Monday.
“We will keep to our schedule to announce the post-pandemic era on July 1. And what we expect to see is only small or medium clusters that will not do any harm to our public health service. The disease will be under control,” Dr Kiattiphum said on Monday. He admitted that two new Covid-19 subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, had already arrived, but said there had not been any significant change in the number of severe cases admitted to hospitals, raising hopes neither will prompt a scare.
The ministry has opted to base its big announcement on a more optimistic premise, but only after the World Health Organization downgrades Covid-19 to endemic status, Dr Kiattiphum said. Meanwhile, deputy government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisaranakul said on Monday the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has predicted that the number of foreign visitors to Thailand could exceed 10 million this year, which is in line with the rising numbers of travelers to other countries that have relaxed their entry restrictions. Between Jan 1 and June 26, Thailand welcomed 2.03 million foreign tourist arrivals as several entry restrictions were eased, she said. Most were from India (220,962), Malaysia (184,782), the UK (121,328), Singapore (121,264) and the US (102,964), she said. Read more at:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2334988/post-pandemic-day-edges-near
