Bangkok (VNA) - The Public Health Ministry of Thailand has proposed fiverequirements for an exit strategy from the Covid-19 lockdown, starting with 32provinces.

At a joint meeting between ministry officials and deans of faculties ofmedicine on how to ease the lockdown, all agreed some measures have to berelaxed although a return to pre-crisis normality is out of the question, theBangkok Post cited Kamnuan Ungchusak, an adviser to the Disease ControlDepartment and to the public health minister on the Covid-19 situation, assaying.

The meeting came up with five pre-requisites for the exit strategy. They willbe proposed to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration for approval.

First, the screening of inbound visitors must remain stringent and facilitiesfor 14-day state quarantine must be ready at all times. Each province must havea laboratory for tests and a system to look for infections among at-riskgroups, highly populated communities, labourers and risk areas.

Second, all Thais must agree to observe good hygiene practices such as wearingmasks when going to public places, observing social distancing and refrainingfrom assembling. They must also come to terms with the fact that they can nolonger lead a normal life after Covid-19.

Third, the private sector, led by the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Board of Tradeof Thailand and Federation of Thai Industries, must consider categorising thetypes of businesses to be reopened based on their risks (high, medium and low)and rethink processes to minimise the risks.

Such changes must be based on four criteria. According to Kamnuan, the privatesector must set an appropriate ratio between the number of customers and aservice area unit. Activities must not involve shouting or a lot of verbalexchange. The places of business must be airy and well ventilated. Distancingwithin a service area must also be defined.

Fifth, the country must have in place a realtime monitoring system forinfections at the national, provincial and district levels so people know thesituation in each area.

Kamnuan said he believes that the country will move forward. However, not all77 provinces will go ahead at the same pace. They will be allowed to reopenbased on risks and by area.

Thailand reported 27 new cases of COVID-19 on April 20, lifting the country’stotal to 2,792 cases. No new deaths were reported for the third consecutiveday, according to the country’s centre for COVID-19 situation administration./.