City records 10% jump in Covid patients

The number of Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Bangkok has risen by 10% since last month, when entertainment places reopened, the chief of the Department of Medical Services said yesterday.

Dr Somsak Akksilp, the department’s director-general, said there were about 900 Covid-19 patients in hospitals in the capital last month, and the number has risen to 1,000 this month.

“It’s a 10% increase from last month when strict regulations were still in place. However, this is normal given the circumstances, with more relaxed regulations and especially the reopening of entertainment venues.”

The number of severely ill patients has risen accordingly, he said.

Dr Somsak said two new subvariants of Covid-19’s Omicron variant might have more severe symptoms because they can resist vaccines and antibodies and travel deeper into the lungs.

But there is no evidence yet proving either BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible, he said.

Gen Supoj Malaniyom, operations chief of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said the CCSA intended to declare the whole nation a green (Covid-19 surveillance) zone and completely reopen business and other activities.

As such, nightspots would revert to their pre-Covid operating hours. Closing hours would be either midnight, 1am or 2am depending on the venue and regulations, said Gen Supot, who is secretary-general of the National Security Council.

Officials said previously the declaration was expected to take effect on July 1, when the Public Health Ministry is also likely to redefine Covid-19 as an endemic disease.

Meanwhile, the number of cases in Phuket has been rising over the last week, Dr Koosak Kookiatkul, provincial health chief, said yesterday.

Dr Koosak said on Wednesday, 26 new cases were confirmed with RT-PCR tests and 294 others tested positive for the disease with antigen tests.

He said the number of cases began to rise in Phuket about six days ago.