Image from The Nation Thailand/ANN.
BANGKOK, May 7 (The Nation Thailand/ANN): Thailand's Public Health Ministry has unveiled a four-point Covid strategy for 35,000 schools that will reopen later this month.
Schools around the country will resume onsite learning on May 17, as the academic year gets underway.
The first measure is to ensure that at least 60 per cent of students aged 15-18 are fully vaccinated with two doses, said Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha.
The second is to ensure all schools score at least 95 per cent in evaluations by provincial public health offices using the Thai Stop Covid Plus standard.
The third is to screen symptomatic and at-risk students with antigen tests.
The fourth measure is an emergency plan to ensure schools remain open even if infections are found. Classrooms where students test positive must be cleansed, after which classes can continue as normal.
Sathit added that students who test positive at boarding schools will undergo school isolation.
He said that students or staff who come into contact with infected people do not need to undergo quarantine if they are vaccinated and have no symptoms.
However, unvaccinated people with high-risk contacts should be quarantined for five days and then monitor their symptoms for another five days. Those who come into contact with infected people should test themselves with ATKs on days 5 and 10 after the contact.
Meanwhile, Thai province Prachuap Khiri Khan and 14 other southern provinces have been placed on alert for flash floods and water runoff from today until Tuesday (May 7-10).
The other 14 southern provinces on flood alert are Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Patthalung, Songkhla, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang, and Satun.
The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department issued the alert after a forecast of thundershowers and heavy rain by the Thailand Meteorological Department.
The department’s weather bulletin on Friday said a brewing cyclone in the Bay of Bengal will bring strong southeasterly winds across the Andaman Sea, Thailand and the Gulf from today until Monday.
Thundershowers with isolated heavy rains are forecast over the country, while people in the South should beware of the severe weather conditions that may cause flash floods and overflows. - The Nation Thailand/ANN
