Health Officials Propose Loosening COVID-19 Restrictions

Thailand’s health authorities propose easing some COVID-19 restrictions. Department of Disease Control’s Opas Karnkawinpong said that other countries are now starting to loosen restrictions and Thailand is ready. However, he did not mention which restrictions will be eased.

“The COVID-19 situation globally is heading in the same direction. Other countries have started to relax restrictions in response to daily infection rates.”

The government aims to move away from lockdowns during outbreaks, with Opas predicting the virus would soon reach endemic status.  He added that Thailand’s daily new infection rate is regarded as safe and that although being categorized as highly contagious, the Omicron variant doesn’t cause severe symptoms to fully vaccinated individuals.

“We need to work on making people understand that the daily new cases do not cause for alarm. We’ve been living with the disease for 2 years and it’s time for us to move on”.

Opas told reports that allowing patients with minor or no symptoms to isolate themselves at home helped lessen hospital bed occupancy rate.  He added that recent deaths due to COVID-19 are persons classified as high-risk.  These include over 60 years old, with comorbidities, and pregnant women who had not yet gotten their booster jab.

Despite the chance of easing restrictions and health authorities promoting a shift toward “living with” the virus and practicing new normal, things in Maha Sarakham is different. Authorities in the north-eastern region banned all kinds of event gatherings. These include meetings, weddings, ordinations, and funerals.

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Source: Bangkok Post