BANGKOK (NNT) – The Social Security Office is now proactively addressing issues associated with the new COVID-19 outbreak and containment measures, especially at Samut Sakhon where the seafood industry has been impacted.
The Social Security Office (SSO) Deputy Secretary General Buppa Panpeng has disclised that the Ministry of Labor has been coordinating with private firms to arrange COVID-19 screenings and tests in at-risk provinces, with the SSO supporting the screening and testing fees at up to 2,200 baht per case, effective from 1st January to 31st March.
The SSO will also be covering the costs of COVID-19 treatment for Social Security benefit holders who tested positive to the novel coronavirus.
Because of this new wave, the SSO has introduced a reduction in social security contributions for both the employers and employees from 5% to 3%, valid from January until March this year.
Benefit holders independently enrolled by the virtue of Article 39 will have their monthly contribution reduced from 432 baht to 278 baht for the same period.
The SSO expects this special arrangement will help 12.7 million employees and some 480,000 employers, save a total of 15.6 billion baht in payments.
The Thai Tuna Industry Association’s President, Chanintr Chalisarapong said today the situation faced by the Thai tuna industry has deescalated, as the workers found infected with COVID-19 have received treatment, with some have already recovered and returned to work.
He said factories in Samut Sakhon have been cooperative with the establishment of field hospitals at their own facilities. These factory field hospitals have a combined capacity of some 4,000 beds. Coupled with state-run field hospitals, Samut Sakhon is expected to have around 10,000 field hospital beds available for COVID-19 cases among workers.
Factories in Samut Sakhon are now asking the government to allow a further reduction in corporate taxes of the costs associated with COVID-19 testing of their employees.
