The post Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 21 April 2020, 11.45 Hrs. appeared first on TAT Newsroom.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in Thailand as of 21 April 2020, 11.45 Hrs.
Thailand developing vaccines against COVID-19
BANGKOK (NNT) – The Director-General of the Department of Medical Sciences, Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, said today that Thailand now has a team working towards the development of vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The team comprises members from various institutions, led by the National Vaccine Institute (NVI).
The NVI Director, Dr. Nakorn Premsri, explained that vaccine development involves the synthesizing of ribonucleic acid (RNA), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or fragments of the virus. An experimental vaccine can then be tested on hamsters or monkeys to see if it has any effect on the immune system. There are three phases of clinical trials for a COVID-19 vaccine. The first phase focuses on safety, with about 30 to 50 volunteers. The next phase focuses on stimulating the immune system, involving 100 to 150 people. The third phase involves at least 500 volunteers to determine its effectiveness. If the vaccine is effective, the team will submit it to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval.
Meanwhile, the United States (US), China and England have made the most progress in vaccine development, having completed the first two phases. There are six vaccines against COVID-19 in development.
Thailand has three options for using vaccines. The first option is to develop and produce a vaccine in the country, which is currently under way. The second option is to cooperate with foreign countries that already have a vaccine and are testing it on humans. This alternative will enable Thailand to acquire it faster than other countries. The third choice is to wait for other countries to come up with a vaccine and then import it. In that instance,Thailand would have to wait longer and the price could be very high.
Co-Chairs’ Statement of the Special ASEAN-United States Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
1. We, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the United States Secretary of State held the Special ASEAN- United States Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) via video conference on 23 April 2020 (22 April 2020 Washington, D.C. time) to discuss ASEAN-United States cooperation in public health emergencies, especially in countering the COVID-19 pandemic, and our shared commitment to strengthening the ASEAN-United States Strategic Partnership. The Meeting was co-chaired by His Excellency Saleumxay Kommasith, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR, and His Excellency Michael Pompeo, Secretary of State of the United States. Foreign Ministers of all ASEAN Member States and, the Secretary-General of ASEAN participated in the meeting. Representatives from the ASEAN Senior Officials (SOM), ASEAN Senior Officials for Health Development (SOMHD), ASEAN Senior Economic Officials (SEOM), and the Senior Officials’ Committee for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (SOCA), and the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) also participated in the meeting.
Download the full Statement here.
Commerce Ministry reduces prices of 3,025 items
BANGKOK (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce has continuously reduced commodity prices, to help reduce Thai citizens’ cost of living during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce said the commodity price reductions are a form of continuous aid from the ministry, in collaboration with major manufacturers and wholesalers, which the ministry launched on 16th of April.
The price reductions will help to control people’s costs of living during the outbreak.
This 2nd round of price reductions continues to focus mainly on 6 groups of basic necessities, comprising food and drink, frozen food, condiments, daily necessities, sanitary goods and household care products. 72 items have been added to the lis, extending it to 3,025 items with up to 68 percent discounts.
The price reductions are available from now until June 30, 2020.
People can find discounted items at 13 retail stores, including Big C, Tesco Lotus, Makro, Foodland, CJ Express, Lawson, CP All, The Mall, Max Value, Tops, Gourmet Market, Home Fresh Mart and Family Mart.
Chinese tourists are ready to come back to Thailand – China, Tourism
A comprehensive new survey of consumers in China’s first-tier cities has concluded that 53% of respondents would like to travel overseas within 2020.
Moreover 71% of those surveyed said they would like to travel to Thailand, with an interesting shift in the data : 83% or the respondents said they would rather choose independent travel versus group tours.
Thailand’s economy’s is highly dependent on Chinese tourism with nearly 11 million Chinese tourists coming to Thailand in 2019.
More than a quarter of inbound arrivals to Thailand are Chinese, and their spending is crucial for the Thai economy : the drop in Chinese tourist numbers from January to April alone could cost the Thai economy $3.05 billion, according to The Tourism Authority of Thailand.
But the Coronavirus crisis is keeping Thailand’s top vacation spenders away with a 95% decline in Chinese visitors in the first quarter of 2020.
Thailand has effectively closed its doors to non-resident foreigners under a state of emergency that came into force on March 26, bringing down tourist entries close to nil.
Data released by the Bank of Thailand shows that tourism is now down from 100 000 to just 1,800 daily entries.
Key Takeaway Points
• Most popular Thai destinations Chinese travellers want to visit in order of popularity are Bangkok, Phuket,…
Officials seek public cooperation to stop Doi Inthanon forest fire
CHIANG MAI (NNT) – The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment has offered his moral support to firefighters at Doi Inthanon, urging the officials to communicate with villagers about the consequences of forest burning.
The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Warawut Silpa-archa, led a team to Doi Inthanon National Park in Chiang Mai, where he met national park officials, community leaders, volunteers and forest firefighters.
Minister Warawut has expressed his encouragement and appreciation to the officials, and delivered food supply through community leaders.
The visiting officials received a briefing on forest fires on Doi Inthanon, where the main causes are hunting and foraging, conflicts and farmland expansion.
The Minister urged the officials to communicate with villagers on the consequences of forest burning, as he believes villagers should cherish the forest close to which they live.
He has than asked national park officials to renovate tourism attractions to welcome visitors, when travel is allowed to resume after the COVID-19 crisis, as well as manage occupational lands for villagers to prevent encroaching further into the forest.
5,000-baht cash subsidy to be transferred to additional 700,000…
BANGKOK(NNT) – The Ministry of Finance has closed registrations for the 5,000-baht cash subsidy on เราไม่ทิ้งกัน.com. More than 28.8 million people registered.
Mr Lawaron Saengsanit, Director of the Fiscal Policy Office, as spokesman of the Ministry of Finance, said the Ministry of Finance will speed up the information verification process and if the people registered meet the criteria, the Ministry of Finance will transfer the cash subsidy to their registered bank account as soon as possible. He has confirmed that the Ministry of Finance has not specified the number of eligible people and all those who meet the criteria will receive the financial assistance.
The Ministry of Finance has asked for additional information from 6.3 million people and 4.8 million people have already submitted additional information. The Ministry of Finance has asked about 1.5 million people to submit the information quickly to expedite the result, and receive assistance in a timely manner. The 10 million people who didn’t meet the criteria, can submit an appeal relating to the 5,000-baht cash subsidy on www.เราไม่ทิ้งกัน.com.
The subsidy has already been transferred to the bank accounts of the first batch of 4.2 million people. Today, the Ministry of Finance will transfer the subsidy to another 700,000 people including 500,000 people who have already submitted additional information and 200,000 people who submitted an appeal relating to the 5,000-baht cash subsidy and met the criteria.
Government’s 5,000 baht cash relief extended to 14 million people
BANGKOK (NNT) – There has been strong criticism of the government’s 3-month 5,000 baht monthly compensation scheme, in regard to the campaign’s criteria for eligibility.
The Cabinet has now approved an extension of the campaign to cover more people affected by the COVID-19 disruption, now totalling about 14 million persons.
The Ministry of Finance yesterday reported in the Cabinet’s meeting that registrations in this compensation campaign have seen 27.76 persons register from 28th March to 16th April, a number much higher than expected.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has received complaints from some rejected registrants whose listed occupational information was inaccurate, particularly those listed as farmers while in fact their main occupations are general employees, laborers, or freelancers.
The Ministry of Finance will be extending the campaign to cover these people, who will however, no longer receive any other COVID-19 related aid packages offered through farmers’ groups or cooperatives should they apply under those schemes.
Additionally, registrants who have been rejected because the system recognized their occupation as student, but who are actually part-time students while mainly working at full-time or freelance jobs, will also be covered.
This extension of the campaign raises the number of eligible persons from 9 million to 14 million.
Source : NNT
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