The government is considering a long holiday in July to make up for the cancelled Songkran break if infection trends continue to decline, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said yesterday.
CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said that a substitute holiday period is possible next month if the number of new novel coronavirus disease cases remains low throughout June.
"If things go well, we might not need the emergency decree in July and we may finally have a holiday for Songkran," he said at the daily Covid-19 press briefing.
To prevent people from travelling en masse and spreading the virus amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the government postponed this year's Songkran, or Thai New Year celebrations, which were due to take place on April 13-15.
While the cabinet had just recently extended the state of emergency in Thailand until June 30, government experts are now trying to figure out which laws could be used to control a second wave of Covid-19 infections, if it occurs after the emergency has been lifted.
The CCSA yesterday reported one new Covid-19 case -- a returnee in a state quarantine facility -- and no new fatalities.
According to Dr Taweesilp, the new case was a 43-year-old Thai woman who returned from Russia and entered a state quarantine facility in Chon Buri on May 20. She tested negative for the virus upon arrival, but a second test on May 31 showed a positive result.
The patient was asymptomatic and was admitted to hospital for treatment, he said.
Dr Taweesilp said even though new Covid-19 cases over the past seven consecutive days were found in state quarantine facilities only, the coast is not yet clear. Local infections should remain at zero over the next few weeks, he said.
"We are in the third phase of lockdown easing, but we are at the critical junction. There are still risks, so we must comply with basic hygiene measures," he said.
He also defended the CCSA's decision to suspend facial massage services at spa facilities but allow aesthetic clinics to resume operations, saying aesthetic clinics have stricter hygiene measures and protocols.