BANGKOK (XINHUA, REUTERS) - Thailand's Royal Gazette on Friday (May 15) announced that China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau will be removed from its list of "dangerous disease zones" from Saturday.

The gazette said that China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau had shown their effectiveness in preventing and containing the coronavirus.

The four were on the list first drawn up in March as Thailand began to step up its efforts to fight the Covid-19 outbreak.

Thai Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul earlier in May said he would propose to the Cabinet to have the four locations removed from Covid-19 high-risk lists.

On March 3, the Public Health Ministry listed Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Germany, South Korea, China, Taiwan, France, Singapore, Italy and Iran as high-risk zones for coronavirus disease.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority on Saturday (May 16) extended the ban on international passenger flights until the end of June.

The ban extends a previous order that was set to run until the end of May.

The announcement comes as the country begins to relax local restrictions after reporting single-digit increases of infections from the new coronavirus this month. The country reported no new coronavirus cases, and no additional deaths on Saturday.

On Sunday (May 17) the government will allow malls and department stores to re-open. It will also shorten a nighttime curfew by one hour, to 2300 to 0400, from 2200 to 0400.

The aviation regulator first introduced the suspension of international flights in April in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Thailand has reported a total of 3,025 cases of the coronavirus and 56 fatalities.