Highlights from the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration meeting (full article soon):
-No legal opening of bars, clubs, pubs, will be allowed to convert to restaurants under current temporary rules. Will be looked at on a regular basis over the next few months as they look to move to treating Covid-19 as endemic in four months (by July). No change in 11:00 P.M. closing.
-Treating Covid-19 as endemic will require a fatality rate of not more than 0.1 percent and vaccine booster program to be significantly accelerated, especially in the elderly and vulnerable. They have stressed that July 1st is not a "Freedom Day" like some other countries and could change based on the situation and data, they will follow the data.
-Phetchaburi/Chiang Mai will become blue zones
-20 areas are reduced to orange zones. (list will be in article). High surveillance area 47 provinces. This does, technically, allow more areas to legally sell alcohol at restaurants and bars, etc, to convert to restaurants.
-Emergency decree will be proposed to be extended to the end of May (April 1st-May 31st, which will be over the two year mark. After cabinet approval, etc, this will be official.
-CCSA has reportedly agreed to cancel the need for the pre-arrival (not on arrival) PCR test from April 1st, but more details coming and final confirmations.
-As we stated earlier, no changes to mask mandates, outdoor mask mandate, even alone, remains.
-We will cover Songkran rules in a seperate article.
-Big concerns remain rural areas where the elderly in some provinces are only 20-30 percent fully vaccinated. Also concerned at ventilator patients rising. They want 70% of the population boosted before Songkran.
-This is a general, not an all inclusive, update as we finalize and fact check our final articles.