Experts Call for Safety Measures Before Reopening Businesses

PM Prayut Chan-o-cha chairs a government meeting on April 20, 2020.

BANGKOK — A group of medical experts on Sunday said adequate measures must be in place before businesses can be reopened amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The call was made in a letter signed by 14 experts and former health officials, including Yong Poovorawan, a prominent virologist and professor of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University.

The proposal includes escalating and expanding COVID-19 tests, and separating and containing communities with infected people, particularly in densely populated areas.

Businesses should be classified based on the level of infection risk level; low-risk enterprises should be allowed to open first, the experts said.

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Business reopening can start in provinces with little or no infections by early May, the letter added.

The call came just as Central Group, the kingdom’s largest shopping mall chain, informed its staff and tenants to be ready for resumption of shops and businesses starting May 1. The emergency decree declared by the government is set to expire on that day.

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But officials on Monday said the plan has yet to be approved by the government.

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