Page 5 - Universal Coverage News Today

The Public Health Ministry has floated the idea of changing the daily announcements it makes on Covid-19 infections.

BANGKOK: The Public Health Ministry is setting its sights on declaring the spread of the coronavirus disease as endemic within the next four months, said its top official.

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has asked citizens to keep faith with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)'s measures to contain virus infections, adding that the crisis will be over soon.

Having lived through the Covid-19 pandemic for two years, the public expects authorities to handle the developing situation with a steady hand.

The Public Health Ministry is setting its sights on declaring the spread of the coronavirus disease as endemic within the next four months, said its top official.

The government has decided to delay a plan to remove Covid-19 treatments from the list of conditions covered by the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) scheme, as the number of new infections continues to rise.

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, will on Wednesday discuss the easing of measures related to travel to Thailand, vaccination guidelines and possible economic packages, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said.

More than 101 billion baht of the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (Ucep) scheme has been spent treating Covid-19 sufferers, mostly with mild symptoms, over the past two years, says the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul insists the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP) scheme for treating Covid-19 sufferers is not being scrapped following his signing off on changes to the programme.

The Thailand Cabinet on Tuesday asked the Public Health Ministry to review its pending removal of Covid-19 from the list of conditions eligible for free emergency treatment.