Phuket has fully opened its doors to travellers from May 1 without restrictions, as the number of Covid-19 patients is continuously decreasing.

Phuket’s Committee of Communicable Disease on Tuesday approved to cancel screening measures by any method, in line with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)’s conclusion on April 22.

Phuket Governor Narong Woonsiew said after the meeting that the committee had analysed the Covid-19 situation. They found that the number of patients in Phuket had continued to decrease. He said that as of Sunday there were only 98 new confirmed cases.

The committee has decided to allow travellers to enter Phuket without presenting vaccination certificates or Covid-19 test results from May 1.

Phuket public health chief Dr Koosak Kookiatkul confirmed that Phuket is ready to deal with any new wave of infection after cancelling the screening measure.

He said that there are only 20 pneumonia patients in Phuket while the occupancy rate is only around 24 to 25 per cent. If there are new patients, he expected that hospitals will be able to provide beds to them.

The Nation