WE ARE READY
PHUKET HEALTH CHIEF SAYS ISLAND READY FOR COVID TO BE DECLARED ENDEMIC
Phuket Provincial Public Health
Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Kusak
Kukiattikoon says Phuket is on
the cusp of clearing all the requirements in order to have COVID-19 declared ‘endemic’ on the island, opening the door to having all restrictions against the disease lifted.
Dr Kusak highlighted the continu
ally falling number of new COVID cases reported each day. As of last Saturday (May 7) new cases had fallen for six consecutive days.
The number of new cases has been
under 100 since Apr 25. The number of new cases reported for Monday (May 9) totalled 35 confirmed by RT-PCR tests and 78 testing positive by antigen test kit (ATK).
At time of press Phuket health officials had marked two deaths as
attributed to COVID-19 so far this month. Last month officials recorded 20 deaths. One of the deaths reported for May 8 was that of a 55-year-old bed-ridden man who was already suffering from epilepsy, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, hypertension
and abnormal blood lipids.
“The current situation of COVID-19 in Phuket province has a clear and noticeable trend of decreasing,” Dr Kusak said.
“This means we can prepare Phuket for COVID-19 being declared as an endemic disease,” he added.
“We are preparing to propose to the CCSA [Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration] to declare COVID-19 an endemic disease,” he explained during a live radio interview on May 4.
“The number of infections and deaths from COVID-19 in Phuket have continued to decline and we are ready to move forward with the campaign for booster vaccinations for people in Group 608 [high at-risk patients] and students before the start
of the semester,” he added.
Dr Kusak expressed concern for the slow progress made in providing booster vaccinations to higher at-risk people designated as Group 608 patients.
“If looking at the details of the third dose of vaccinations in Group 608, it is still 52%. Therefore, we need to continue the campaign to provide more booster vaccinations to people in Group 608 and students in order to reach the 60% required by the criteria [for declaring COVID-19 ‘endemic’],” he said.
“If people want to be vaccinated, they can walk in at any vaccination service point, hospital or health care centre in their area,” he added.
“As for those who are stuck in the house or in bed, they can coordinate with medical officers. There will be officers to proactively vaccinate all areas as well,” Dr Kusak said.
According to the latest PPHO report on the mass vaccination campaign in Phuket, so far 508,375 people, or 94.29%, of the 539,183 target population have received one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
In total, 484,158 people, or 89.79%,
have received two doses.
The PPHO report on Tuesday (May
10) marked that 326,955 people have received a third-dose ‘booster jab’, reported as 67.53% of those who had already received two doses.
A total of 125,747 people in Phuket
have received a fourth dose of COVID
vaccine, reported as 38.46% of those who had already received three doses.
Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul last week announced that
the government expects to declare...
...COVID-19 an endemic disease in Thailand in early July, “allowing people to return to normal life as planned by the Ministry of Public Health”.
AUNJAI TO CLOSE
The PPHO has already announced that the Aunjai Clinic will close on May 16. The clinic opened last year for people who test positive for COVID-19 to contact for medical assistance and advice.
“Patients can receive services at the respiratory clinic at hospital according to the rights of the people,” said the PPHO in announcing the closure.
The Aunjai Clinic – with ‘aunjai’
in Thai meaning “peace of mind” – opened at the Auditorium of the new Phuket Provincial Hall on the south side of Phuket Town on Sept 15, 2021. As clarified by Governor Narong Woonciew at the time of the opening, it was set up for people
who tested positive for COVID-19 by ATK and did not know what to do next.
“These people, when tested and found themselves infected, do not know what to do… The clinic will have staff to give advice, check symptoms, and even check x-rays of
the lungs and administer medication for those with light symptoms,” Gov
Narong explained.
“[Staff at the clinic] will consider
the treatment and referral as to where
the patient should be sent for treatment, at a hospital, field hospital, Community Isolation centre or
return to recover at home,” he added.
The Aunjai Clinic also provided consultations via phone. For informa
tion about COVID-19, people were free to call its hotline 076-254207 (20 lines) available 24 hours a day. The PPHO did not mention in its most recent announcement if the call centre will continue operation after May 16.
The move to ease restrictions further will be much welcomed following the falling number of international arrivals despite the easing of entry requirements since May 1, when it became no longer required for arrivals to be tested for COVID-19 pre-departure or on landing in Thailand.
While officials have touted increasing numbers of tourists since May 1, Phuket airport has actually seen a drop in tourist arrivals. According to Phuket Immigration, Phuket airport showed an average of only 2,089 arrivals each day from May 1-9. On Monday (May 9),
officials recorded only 1,621 international arrivals at Phuket airport.
INTO THE NIGHT
Meanwhile, night entertainment operators have called on the government to allow them to reopen their businesses in “’blue-zone’” provinces promoted for tourism from June 1.
The move is one of several proposals presented to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at Government House on Monday (May 9), said Sa-nga Ruangwatthanakul, president of the association of business operators on Khao San Rd, reported
the Bangkok Post.
The proposals were put forward by more than 10 associations of night entertainment and tourism business operators in Bangkok and other provinces, including Phuket, Mr Sa-nga said.
The associations have also thrown their support behind moves to downgrade COVID-19 to endemic
status ahead of a full reopening of the country.
The proposals were expected to go before a meeting of the Centre for
COVID-19 Situation Administration
(CCSA) on Tuesday (May 10). Since the Test & Go entry scheme
was cancelled on May 1, businesses on Khao San Rd are surging back to
life as foreign visitors are returning,
Mr Sa-nga said.
Now was the time to further ease
curbs on nightlife as it would give the industry an extra shot in the arm. He reiterated his call for the government to scrap the Thailand Pass registration requirement for foreign travellers and roll out special
promotions to draw tourists back.
According to the letter to be handed to the prime minister, the associations said the outbreak of COVID-19 has dealt a serious blow to the tourism industry.
As a result, some have gone out of business because they lacked the resources to swallow heavy losses. The closures had also left many workers unemployed.
Among the proposals is allowing night entertainment venues, pubs, bars and karaoke parlours that have met Safety and Health
Administration (SHA) Plus or Thai Stop COVID 2 Plus standards to reopen in two stages.
In Stage 1, such venues in 12 “’blue-zone’” provinces and certain districts which are also designated as blue zones in 16 other provinces would be allowed to reopen from June 1. In Stage 2, permission for reopening would be given to those venues nationwide from July 1.
Another proposal is for provincial
governors and various agencies to work with night entertainment operators to ensure compliance with COVID-Free Setting measures and roll out campaigns to encourage people to comply with health safety precautions.
A third idea involves replacing the emergency decree and the Com
municable Disease Act with other laws after the current extension of the decree’s enforcement ends on June 1.
As part of their plan to reinvigorate nightlife in tourist areas, the associations will urge the government to designate special zones in which alcohol can continue to be served from 11pm-4am but with additional public transport laid on to discourage drink-driving.
“Several tourist spots have the potential to be further developed into
special zones for night-time leisure activities. They include Khao San Road, Soi Cowboy and Patpong Road in Bangkok, Walking Street in Pattaya, Bangla Road in Phuket, Hat Rin on Koh Pha-ngan in Surat Thani and Nimmana Haeminda Road
in Chiang Mai,” Mr Sa-nga said.