Infections ‘under control’

>>The Covid-19 situation during the past 14 days has remained under control as the government tries to ensure enough field-hospital beds for increasing numbers of patients, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said.

Measures have proven to be effective in containing the spread of the coronavirus, he said, adding the public has been urged to get vaccinated as advised by public health officials.

He said home isolation now serves as the main approach to handling Covid19 patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms as these patients account for about 90% of patients in the latest wave of infections.

Home isolation is not far removed from hospital care, as medicine, food and other necessary items are delivered to homes, and patients are closely monitored via telemedicine, he said.

Patients who cannot be self-isolated at home will be looked after at community isolation facilities, Mr Thanakorn said. But any patient who develops severe symptoms will be taken to hospital immediately.

As of Wednesday, there were 22,035 field-hospital beds available for patients at 118 locations in Bangkok and other provinces. The beds were provided by the Defence Ministry, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, he said.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had urged the public not to lower their guard and to follow precautions against Covid-19 strictly because the virus’ Omicron variant has still caused new infections to spike all over the world.

However, if the situation shows signs of easing, the Public Health Ministry will consider lowering the Covid-19 alert level, which is currently at Level 4, he said.

Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said more than 108 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been given to people, and the Public Health Ministry also plans to administer at least 9 million more doses by the end of this month. The ministry had observed the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines in Thailand and found they have helped prevent the worst effects of all variants of the virus.

“The vaccines are 90-100% effective in preventing severe symptoms and deaths caused by all strains of the virus,” he said, adding booster shots are also important as the effectiveness will wear off after three months of getting a second shot.

He said booster shots of AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines were instrumental in containing a cluster of Omicron infections in Kalasin.

Thiraphat Prayoonsithi, permanent secretary for the Prime Minister’s Office, said he has issued an announcement for at least 85% of staff at the PM’s Office to work from home until the end of this month as part of efforts to contain Covid-19.

Staff who have to work on-site at the PM’s Office must take an antigen test once a week, he said.