The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) will today discuss a proposal by the national communicable disease committee to downgrade Covid-19 to a communicable disease under surveillance from its current state as a serious communicable disease.
That will top today's CCSA meeting agenda, said National Security Council secretary-general Supoj Malaniyom yesterday, in his capacity as chief of the CCSA's operations centre.
A clear operation plan for facilitating the proposed change in Covid-19's status has already been approved by the committee and submitted to the Ministry of Public Health for discussion at the CCSA's meeting, he said.
Another important topic to be presented at the same meeting will be the current overall situation of Covid-19 in Thailand, the region and the world, Gen Supoj said.
Also looked at will be the outcome of the government's tourism promotion policy which is aimed at boosting Thailand's economic recovery, he said.
A proposal to further expand the distribution of certain prescription drugs for Covid-19 treatment to so-called class 1 pharmacies so to improve public access to the drugs will also be discussed at the meeting, he said.
Asked about how soon Covid-19 will be declared an endemic disease, Gen Supoj said, the CCSA might touch on this matter.
In his response to questions raised over how necessary the emergency decree will be when Covid-19 becomes a communicable disease under surveillance, he said whether the decree will still be needed will be considered when a new operation plan by the Ministry of Public Health regarding Covid-19's new status is examined at the meeting.
So far the special law still is being used for Covid-19 control on travellers entering and leaving the country, he said.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, meanwhile, said the decree, for instance, is necessary for ensuring the speedy procurement of necessary medications, medical devices and vaccines.
He urged those who viewed the decree as only being restrictive on the public to instead see it differently as it has allowed the government to respond better to the pandemic.
