PM urges vigilance after Covid-19 surge

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has ordered local authorities to monitor Covid-19 cases after infections spiked during Songkran.

Deputy Prime Minister’s Office spokeswoman Kenika Ounjit said yesterday that the prime minister and public health officials had raised concerns about the possibility of a further outbreak.

She said local authorities had been ordered to ensure hospitals were prepared for potential patients if that eventuated.

People experiencing cold-like symptoms are suggested to wear a face mask when in public, wash their hands often, and conduct an ATK screen test. Infected individuals are urged to avoid contacting people in the so-called “608 at-risk group”, namely elderly people, pregnant women and people with seven high-risk diseases.

Ms Kenika said that Covid-19 is now a communicable disease under surveillance by the Communicable Diseases Act, BE 2548 (2015).

According to the Department of Disease Control (DDC), 1,004 Covid19 patients were hospitalised during April 14-20, averaging 143 people a day. Most of the cases, according to the report, were in Bangkok and major tourist provinces.

The DDC said that of those ill among the 608 at-risk individuals during this time, three succumbed to the disease, 292 suffered from pneumonitis, and 101 needed intubation.

Dr Atchawin Rodjanawat, director of the National Institute of Health (NIH), said that most Covid-19 cases found this year are now in the JN.1 sub-variant, with at least 90% diagnosed with the sub-variant since January.

This Omicron sub-variant is discovered in the samples that the NIH collected from approximately 20 patients a week.

The data is linked to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) record, which says this variant can now be found globally.

Dr Manoon Leechawengwongs, a pulmonologist at Vichaiyut Hospital, said that despite the new sub-variant, the disease is now of weak severity, with the symptoms mostly being infections in the upper part of the respiratory tract, or throat and nose, rather than an infection in the lower part of the system — the lungs and bronchia.

The DDC is advising people again to wear face masks when in public.