Shorter quarantine to be debated

The pandemic situation panel will consider the issue of extending the state of emergency and review regulations for visiting businesspeople and tourists next week.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday revealed the agenda for the meeting of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Monday, one day ahead of the cabinet’s regular weekly meeting.

He said many countries had imposed state of emergencies to cope with the coronavirus because normal laws were not adequate.

Thailand was controlling the pandemic well and many countries looked to Thailand as an example for effective disease control, he said.

The CCSA will consider whether to extend the emergency for another month and review disease control measures for business visitors and tourists.

“As there are economic problems, officials are considering whether some measures can be relaxed,” he said. “Companies need to send people here to supervise their production bases in Thailand. How should we handle their short visits?”

The CCSA would also consider how to handle visits by foreigners for tourism and medical treatment, and their quarantine arrangements.

Gen Prayut said the compulsory 14-day state quarantine could be shortened for some groups of foreign visitors but the government had not decided whether to decrease it for all groups, adding that it was important the country adjusted its measures accordingly.

The PM stressed the government had always managed the Covid-19 situation proactively and prepared appropriate measures for various groups of foreigners wanting to travel to Thailand.

Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, an adviser to the Minister of Public Health, said no country had ever cut the 14-day quarantine to as short as seven days but some European countries plus South Korea and Singapore had started to use a 10-day quarantine.

Dr Tawee suggested a 10-day quarantine be trialled in Thailand and that after analysis has been carried out, the government could then decide whether seven days was safe to try.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Thailand has risen to 3,519, of whom 3,360 (95.48%) have recovered.