Although the United States continues to be the nation hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, the feelings at the center of our anxieties about the virus are felt throughout the world.
While it’s true that Thailand has experienced far fewer cases and deaths from the coronavirus — 3,042 and 57 respectively at the time of this writing as per Worldometer — that doesn’t mean it’s accurate to say the Southeast Asian nation has been unaffected by the virus.
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As The Jakarta Post reported , the downturn in tourism and domestic economic activity has ground the nation’s economic performance down to its worst halt in eight years.
So like many other countries, Thailand is seeing some of its institutions reopen. But in the case of at least one mall there, that isn’t happening without some new ideas to ensure everyone’s safety.
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Before the Seacon Square mall in Bangkok, Thailand reopened, this was what someone could expect to see there.
As the mall tweeted out, every contact point was sprayed with disinfectant.
According to AP News , the Thai government allowed malls to reopen on May 17 for the first time since March after new cases of COVID-19 remained in the single digits for all but one day over the course of two weeks.
And when customers went over to the elevators, this is the sight that greeted them.
As they would soon learn, both the control panels in the elevator cars and the buttons outside the doors were replaced by foot pedals like these.
As the vice president of the mall’s parent company explained, this was a move to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and give customers peace of mind.
As Prote Sosothikul of Seacon Development told The Jakarta Post , “The easiest way to get infected is when you touch an object that has been contaminated. Eventually touch your face and the virus will go into your mouth, your eyes, or whatever. So we came up with this idea of hand-free, foot-operated elevator.”
Although customers were reportedly confused by the buttons at first, they welcomed them once they understood why they were there.
As a customer who went by Watcharaporn said to The Jakarta Post , “They did a good job in preparing this. I feel much safer because we use our hands to do various things all the time. Now that we can use our foot to press the elevator, it’s really great.”
Although it remains to be seen how Thailand’s easing of restrictions will affect infection rates, measures like this can eliminate at least one troublesome contact point.
For that reason, we shouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing this idea adopted stateside as well.
Only time will tell if it catches on, though.
h/t: The Jakarta Post
