Thailand adopts guidelines for declaring COVID-19 endemic

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai health authorities have approved new guidelines outlining the parameters for declaring the coronavirus pandemic an endemic disease. Official figures show that the country already meets the three criteria, but Ministry of Public Health spokesman Rungrueng Kitphati said Friday it would still be between six months and a year before the government would be able to make the decision to start treating COVID-19 as an illness that is here to stay, like the flu or measles. Among other things, he says authorities need to be sure that the figures remain at the current levels or improve before it can be declared endemic.