A proposed executive decree to provide healthcare professionals who treat Covid-19 patients with immunity from legal liability remains in the air.
The Public Health Ministry's draft executive decree on limiting liabilities of public health workers handling Covid-19 patients has yet to be finalised, said government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri on Tuesday, adding it still is being reviewed by all parties concerned including medical workers and members of the public
The spokesman was responding to concerns raised over the possibility of the draft decree being rushed.
"The ministry has not yet even forwarded the draft to the Council of State, the government's legal arm, as the draft still requires more discussions and reviews," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday reiterated that the executive decree is intended to protect healthcare professionals, not him, as speculated by some critics.
He said the draft law is not an amnesty for anyone and that the law is intended to assure medical doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff who perform their duties honestly that they will be backed up.
"This draft law has been conceived by the permanent secretary for public health, and I personally approve of and support it because it is necessary. And once again, the decree is still being drafted," he said.
Meanwhile, department heads at Thammasat University's Faculty of Law have weighed in on the matter. Assoc Prof Niramai Phitkhae Manjit, a deputy dean at the university's Lampang campus, has argued in a Facebook post that current laws are sufficient to ensure legal protection for healthcare workers in both state-run and private-run hospitals.
Panat Tasneeyanond, a former dean of the same university, however, said he totally supports the decree as long as it applies only to frontline healthcare workers and health volunteers.
