Ministry issues 8 urgent orders to hospitals as new Covid wave rises
The Public Health Ministry has issued an eight-point order to hospitals and instructed them to prepare for a new wave of Covid-19. The preparation order was issued after a rise in the infection rate driven by cases of the new Omicron BA.4 and 5 subvariants.
In a Facebook post on Monday, the Rural Doctor Society (RDS) published an urgent letter from ministry permanent secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit ordering public health chiefs nationwide to prepare for a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The ministry letter contained the following eight orders to hospitals:
- Notify medical staff of the situation so they can prepare services and protect themselves accordingly.
- Ensure sufficient supplies of medicines and protective equipment.
- Prepare beds for severely ill Covid patients.
- Ensure referral system is operating efficiently.
- Speed up booster jab programme for medical staff and citizens.
- Publicise advice on how to prevent the disease from spreading.
- Cooperate with related local agencies on control and prevention measures.
- Gather and analyse Covid data as it emerges.
The preparation order was issued after the rate of Covid-19 infections began rising in the past week. Analysis of samples by the Department of Medical Sciences between June 25 and July 1 showed that Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 accounted for over 50 per cent of new cases. However, Kiattiphum ruled out the possibility of another major outbreak given the high level of vaccination in Thailand.
The Bureau of Epidemiology predicts the new wave of cases will peak in September at 4,000 per day.
On Tuesday, Thailand recorded 1,917 Covid-19 cases and 18 deaths.