Lessons from Thailand’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Keywords:
COVID-19, pandemic, lessonsAbstract
On 31 December 2019, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a cluster of 27 cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, Hubei Province1. Most of the patients were associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan. The Chinese authorities also reported that there was no clear evidence of human to human transmission1-2. The Chinese authorities released a coronavirus genome from an outbreak on 10 January 20203. On 13 January 2020, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Thailand, reported the first imported case of laboratory-confirmed novel coronavirus outside China4. Since then, the disease has spread across the world, with more than 9 million confirmed cases in 215 countries and territories, as of 21 June 20205.
As of 21 June 2020, Thailand reported 3,148 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 58 deaths. As of this same time, Thailand had not had a local transmission case for 27 days6-7. This article describes Thailand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and lessons that we have learned from our COVID-19 response.
References
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31. Administrative Order of the Ministry of Public Health No. 113/2563 on the appointment of a consultant committee of the Minister of Public Health regarding medical and public health emergencies in the case of pneumonia from a new strain of the corona virus 2019. Issued 5 February, 2020. (In Thai)
32. International Health Policy Development Agency, Ministry of Public Health. The questionnaire of preventing the spread of COVID-19 during relief measures. Nonthaburi: Ministry of Public Health; 2020. Available from: https://www.xn--b3ca2agqf5a1ac3gsahb6dj7a7bcno8md6ooalj.com/index.html, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
2. World Health Organization. Pneumonia of unknown cause – China. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/csr/don/05-january-2020-pneumonia-of-unkown-cause-china/en/, accessed 21 June, 2020.
3. WuF, Zhao S, Yu B, ChenYM, WangW, Song ZG, et al. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 isolate Wuhan-Hu-1, complete genome. Bethesda: GenBank; 2020. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MN908947, accessed 21 June, 2020.
4. Bureau of Information Office of the Permanent Secretary of MOPH. MOPH emphasized that currently no epidemic, Thailand disease surveillance measure; early detect early treat. Nonthaburi: Bureau of Information Office of the Permanent Secretary of MOPH; 2020. Available from: https://pr.moph.go.th/?url=pr/detail/2/04/136970, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
5. Worldometer. COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. Dover, DE: Worldometer; 2020. Available from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/, accessed 21 June, 2020.
6. Department of Disease Control. Daily COVID-19 news update. Nonthaburi: Department of Disease Control; 2020. Available from: https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/file/news/news_red149_250563.pdf, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
7. Department of Disease Control. Daily COVID-19 news update. Nonthaburi: Department of Disease Control; 2020. Available from: https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/file/news/news_red176_210663.pdf, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2020. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html, accessed 21 June, 2020.
9. Wilson KC, Chotirmall SH, Bai C, Rello J. COVID‐19: Interim Guidance on Management Pending Empirical Evidence. New York: American Thoracic Society; 2020. Available from: https://www.thoracic.org/covid/covid-19-guidance.pdf, accessed 21 June, 2020.
10. World Health Organization. Clinical management of COVID-19. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/clinical-management-of-covid-19, accessed 21 June, 2020.
11. World Health Organization. WHO Timeline - COVID-19. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/27-04-2020-who-timeline---covid-19, accessed 21 June, 2020.
12. Bureau of Information Office of the Permanent Secretary of MOPH. MOPH reveals that still found new patients infected with the new coronavirus 2019, invite people to wear a mask to protect themselves. Nonthaburi: Bureau of Information Office of the Permanent Secretary of MOPH; 2020 Available from: https://pr.moph.go.th/?url=pr/detail/2/04/138005, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
13. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Thailand Situation Report – 17 March 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020 Available from: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/searo/thailand/2020-03-17-tha-sitrep-24-covid19.pdf?sfvrsn=2b6ab246_2, accessed 21 June, 2020.
14. Office of the Prime Minister. Order of the Prime Minister No. 76/2563 Re: Arrangement of the Structure of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). Bangkok: Office of the Prime Minister; 2020. Available from: https://media.thaigov.go.th/uploads/document/66/2020/03/pdf/Doc_20200318153452000000.pdf, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
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18. The Secretary of the Cabinet. Regulation under Section 9 of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations B.E. 2548. Bangkok: Ratchakitcha; 2020 Available from: http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2563/E/069/T_0001.PDF, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
19. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand. Prohibiting aircraft temporarily flying into Thailand. Bangkok: The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand; 2020. https://www.caat.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ประกาศห้ามอากาศยานบินเข้าสู่ประเทศไทย.pdf, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
20. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) WHO Thailand Situation Report – 27 April 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/searo/thailand/2020-04-27-tha-sitrep-65-covid19-en-final.pdf?sfvrsn=cdf9b942_0, accessed 21 June, 2020.
21. The Secretary of the Cabinet. Regulation under Section 9 of the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations B.E. 2548 (Issue No. 6). Bangkok: Ratchakitcha; 2020. Available from: https://media.thaigov.go.th/uploads/public_img/source/ข้อกำหนด%20พรก%20ฉุกเฉิน%20ฉบับที่%20๖.pdf, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
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23. Division of Epidemiology. Thailand Field Epidemiology Training Program. Nonthaburi: Division of Epidemiology; 2020. Available from: http://www.interfetpthailand.net/about_index.php, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
24. Bureau of Information Office of the Permanent Secretary of MOPH. MOPH joins forces with public health volunteers, knocking on the door for dry Songkran campaign far away from Covid-19. Nonthaburi: Bureau of Information Office of the Permanent Secretary of MOPH; 2020. Available from: https://pr.moph.go.th/?url=pr/detail/2/04/138005, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
25. Plipat T, Panlar P, Muangdang C. The framework for the development of the emergency operation center and the public health emergency command system, Department of Disease Control B.E. 2016–2021. Nonthaburi: Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control; 2015. (In Thai)
26. Plipat T, editor. Manual of developing public health emergency management, emergency command system and public health emergency operation center, Department of Disease Control. Nonthaburi: Bureau of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control; 2015. (In Thai)
27. Department of Disease Control. Strategic plan for the development of international sanitation law B.E. 2005 for B.E. 2017 - 2021. Nonthaburi: Department of Disease Control; 2015. (In Thai)
28. Plipat T, Siripanumas P, editors. The 20-year national strategic plan for disease prevention and health hazard prevention (2017-2036). Nonthaburi: Department of Disease Control; 2017. (In Thai)
29. World Health Organization. Joint external evaluation of IHR core capacities of the Kingdom of Thailand. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.
30. Cameron EE, Nuzzo JB, Bell JA. Global health security index. Washington: Nuclear Threat Initiative; 2019.
31. Administrative Order of the Ministry of Public Health No. 113/2563 on the appointment of a consultant committee of the Minister of Public Health regarding medical and public health emergencies in the case of pneumonia from a new strain of the corona virus 2019. Issued 5 February, 2020. (In Thai)
32. International Health Policy Development Agency, Ministry of Public Health. The questionnaire of preventing the spread of COVID-19 during relief measures. Nonthaburi: Ministry of Public Health; 2020. Available from: https://www.xn--b3ca2agqf5a1ac3gsahb6dj7a7bcno8md6ooalj.com/index.html, accessed 21 June, 2020. (In Thai)
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2021-01-18
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