Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health has taken China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau off its list of COVID-19 high-risk countries.

The ministerial announcement, published in the Royal Gazette on Friday, cited the effectiveness of those areas in containing the continued spread of the deadly virus.

Earlier this week, the South Korean embassy in Bangkok issued a statement calling on Thailand to remove South Korea from the list, claiming that the COVID-19 situation in the country has improved since Thailand drew up the list in wake of the virus outbreaks.

The embassy said that keeping South Korea on the list amounts to unfair stigmatization of the country.