Thailand’s schools have been instructed to self-assess for COVID-19 risks in managing their classes, in the Ministry of Education’s latest announcement published yesterday (Monday) outlining some measures for schools across the country to follow, amid fears of Omicron spread following the long New Year’s holidays.

According to Education Minister Treenuch Thienthong, all schools should carefully assess students and teaching staff who may be among the at-risk group and to consider moving from on-site learning to online and other platforms, in close coordination with the communicable disease committee in each province.

The announcement came as some schools already decided to temporarily suspend their onsite learning for at least two weeks this month due to concerns over the new COVID-19 variant.

Another measure is for all schools to undertake drills to enhance their readiness to implement contingency plans, in case there is a COVID-19 infection among students or teaching staff, and to coordinate with their nearest hospitals or health facilities.

Additionally, all schools are required to evaluate their capacity to implement all the guidelines already set by the provincial communicable disease committee or the ministry.

Today (Tuesday), in the eastern province of Chon Buri, the provincial health office reported that 499 more COVID-19 cases had been detected in the past 24 hours, raising total infections in the province, since last April 1^st last year, to 114,606. No new fatalities were recorded.

Several clusters of infections were reported in the province, such as at the Sattahip naval base, where five new cases were recorded, 38 new cases related to eateries in Pattaya, where alcohol is served, as well as 13 medical personnel.