On the road back to normalcy

Anchalee Woratai, 79, lives alone in a small room. Her daughter and niece died years ago, but their photos still hang on the wall. Piles of clothes, bottles and food containers are neatly squeezed into a confined space. Anchalee was able to make her own way until she caught the coronavirus.

Then hospital staff told her to wait for drugs at home. Days passed, but they didn’t turn up and her condition worsened. A dorm caretaker eventually contacted a group of volunteers for help. Anchalee, now being treated at a field hospital, is one of those who have been left behind despite the country’s transition to a post-pandemic future.

After two years and three months of fighting Covid-19, the government has unveiled its plan to declare Covid-19 endemic by July and return to…