Thailand agrees to remove China, S Korea from COVID high-risk countries list

Thailand's Health Minister says the government has agreed to remove China and South Korea from its official list of countries at high-risk for COVID-19 infections because their daily case counts have dropped to the single-digit level. Anutin Charnvirakul said Friday that the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration has approved the action but he did not know when it would be implemented.

The measure would become official upon its publication in the Royal Gazette. The move, when implemented, would appear to exempt people arriving from China and South Korea from a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon their arrival in Thailand.

But it would not mean a sudden influx of visitors, as Thai aviation authorities have banned incoming commercial passenger flights through May 31. Thailand announced eight new confirmed COVID-19 cases Friday, bringing the total to 3,000 including 55 deaths. Nearly 3,000 patients have recovered.