The government has plans to declare Covid-19 an endemic disease in July with the aim of returning social and business activities across various sectors to pre-Covid levels.
The move is in line with that of many countries looking to end a painful situation that their people have endured for more than two years.
Still, as it takes steps towards declaring the virus an endemic disease, the government must be well prepared and, crucially, not mislead the public.
The government has tried to quell public concern over the pandemic by insisting the overall situation in Thailand has improved as seen in the drastic decline in number of infected patients and deaths. It also maintains the Omicron variant of the virus does not cause severe illness but only mild flu-like symptoms.
As for regulations, on June 1 entertainment venues such as pubs, bars and nightclubs reopened in 31 provinces, including Bangkok, with their hours of operation and alcoholic-beverage service extended to midnight.
The Ministry of Public Health plans to further ease Covid-19 measures by allowing people to go maskless in designated areas from around mid-June.
The Department of Disease Control, for its part, has stopped reporting Covid-19 infections using rapid antigen test kits (ATK) and reports only cases that require hospitalisation.
All these moves seem to pave the way for the government to declare Covid-19 as endemic disease next month, despite the fact that only 40% of the population has received a booster shot.
Under endemic criteria, new infection cases must not exceed 10,000 cases a day while the fatality rate must not exceed 1:1,000 of the population; the hospitalisation rate likewise should be less than 10%. All this, moreover, amid a continued vaccination programme nationwide.
While it is fine to declare Covid-19 as endemic disease if the country's situation meets the above criteria, any misrepresentation of the situation by the government could bring about careless actions among the public.
For instance, the government must accept that the sharp decrease in the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths was technical.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has changed its methodology by counting only fatalities directly caused by the virus. Previously, it considered every patient who died with the virus as a Covid-19 fatality, including patients with pre-existing conditions. As a result, sharp falls in the kingdom's fatality rate have been seen.
To no longer report ATK cases also will result in a drastic drop in daily new cases, but does this mislead the public about the actual situation?
Further, the Rural Doctor Society last week criticised the Public Health Ministry for changes in the way it allocates Covid-19 vaccines, with the government saying that supply is outpacing demand as there are fewer people who want to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, some will take this to mean vaccination is no longer needed.
Instead of massaging numbers, a more effective approach by the government ahead of declaring Covid-19 an endemic would be to emphasise healthcare procedures allowing people to more easily access treatment and medication.
The government also must address discrimination experienced by some patients under different welfare systems.
It's understood endemic status would ease pressure on the health system and the national budget, but it shouldn't come at the expense of continued caution.