SURIN: The provincial communicable disease committee has postponed its plan to declare Covid-19 an endemic disease, from April 1 until after the Songkran Festival, an official source said.
The decision was made at a committee meeting on Tuesday afternoon chaired by deputy governor Sermsak Seesan with Dr Sinchai Tantiratananon, the provincial public health office chief, and Dr Wuthichai Paenthong, director of Si Narong Hospital, and about 30 other officials in attendance.
The meeting took into consideration the current Covid-19 situation and the progress of the province's vaccination campaign before deciding to postpone the plan to declare Covid-19 an endemic disease on April 1 until after Songkran, which is April 13.
The source did not mention the new date or clarify the postponement.
The provincial public relations office on Sunday announced on Facebook that Surin was ready to shift Covid-19 to an endemic classification on April 1.
- Related: Surin gets ready for endemic status
Governor Suvapong Kitiphatphiboon said Surin was ready to be the first province to declare the disease endemic. Local people had cooperated well in maintaining public health safety under the Public Health Ministry's Covid-free guidelines.
On March 10, the Covid-19 Information Centre said the National Communicable Disease Committee had decided to classify Covid-19 as endemic nationwide, starting on July 1.