Siriraj doctor calls for strict monitoring as govt eases lockdown measures
A senior medical expert has expressed concern over relaxation in containment measures coming into effect from Monday despite the high number of daily cases.
Assoc Prof Nithiphat Chiarakun, head of the Department of Respiratory Diseases and Tuberculosis at Siriraj Hospital, shared his opinion on his personal Facebook page.
He said the current situation in Bangkok and its vicinity remained worrisome due to the number of new cases daily, the number of patients seriously ill and using ventilators, as well as fatalities.
He said there was limited availability of primary hospital beds for severe and critical pneumonia patients. There is also a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in prisons.
He urged all parties to work together to stop these problems by speeding up proactive virus testing in vulnerable areas, then separating the patients from the community; enhancing access to all people without any restrictions on social, ethnic or religious grounds.
Nithiphat said the government sector must strictly monitor and enforce the law when easing measures, while warning that the medical sector was overwhelmed by the workload.
He said the government sector needed to quickly understand the situation and provide rapid and comprehensive vaccination of the population.
There have been concerns after the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration announced relaxation measures, which will come into effect from Monday, as daily cases have remained in four digits.