Holiday ‘is a spread threat’

People returning to their hometowns for Songkran may be a vector for spreading Covid-19 to older members of their families, a disease specialist warned yesterday.

The warning came from Thiravat Hemachudha, director of the Health Science Centre of Emerging Diseases at Chulalongkorn University.

Songkran is a major event in Thailand, when young working people return home en masse to spend time with their families, he said. However, their behaviour can make them prone to spreading the virus to others.

“Young people can easily and quite efficiently spread the disease because they are active and love socialising after work or school,” Dr Thiravat said yesterday, adding that the Covid-19 situation in Thailand may well worsen during the Thai New Year break.

Dr Thiravat, a member of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, is an epidemiologist specialising in emerging diseases.

His concern about the behaviour of young people was reflected in the latest report on local Covid-19 cases yesterday, when 11 people were found infected with the virus — the first cluster infection detected in Thailand.

It is believed that some members of this group of people contracted the virus during a drinking session.

Dr Thiravat said large gatherings of holidaymakers can be a factor in accelerating the spread of the disease if measures are not strictly enforced to contain it. He suggested a 14-day selfquarantine for locals and foreigners alike before Songkran.

Dr Thiravat added that the number of cases in Thailand was “on the rise” and more were still to come — “like a chain reaction”.