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Thailand on Saturday (January 15) reported 7,793 new COVID-19 cases, 5,202 recoveries and 18 additional deaths over the past 24 hours.
▶︎ Infections outside prisons: 7,523. Prisons: 270
▶︎ Recoveries: 5,202
Saturday’s cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 2,316,408 with 21,916 deaths.
The news comes as due to the recent announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) which stated that it may be too early to categorize Covid-19 as an endemic within this year, Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, responded that the Ministry of Public Health is not against the announcement.
He said the ministry did not mean to categorize Coronavirus as an endemic immediately. He stressed the disease can only become an endemic when it has less severity, when people’s immunity rises significantly, and when the country’s medical system is highly capable of handling it.
According to Dr. Opas, Thailand will consider Covid-19 an endemic when the fatality rate is low and controllable, and when people strictly follow the VUCA measures. VUCA stands for vaccine, universal prevention, Covid free setting, and ATK.
(Source: – Asean Now)