True number of Covid cases now 30,000 per day: deputy health minister
The true number of new Covid-19 infections in Thailand could be 30,000 per day, given that about 10,000 people per day are now registering to enter home or community isolation, Deputy Public Health Minister Satit Pitutecha said on Friday.
Satit was responding to a question in Parliament about the current Covid situation posed by Bangkok Pheu Thai MP Jirayu Huangsap.
Satit said that since most people who contracted Omicron BA.4 and 5, the current dominant strains in Thailand, display mild or no symptoms, the Public Health Ministry is only reporting the number of cases that test positive via the RT-PCR method in hospital.
“The BA.4 and 5 subvariants have driven a 30 per cent rise in cases across the globe, including Thailand. However, they do not contribute to a significant increase in mortality or severe symptoms,” Satit said.
He added that the number of Covid patients on respirators in Thailand stands at 327, unchanged from last week. Meanwhile the bed occupancy is within “acceptable levels nationwide”.
Satit added that people who tested positive but have mild or no symptoms will be given Favipiravir or Fah Talai Jone medications until they recover.
“Most of the confirmed cases are from domestic infections, therefore we advise people to wear face masks when in crowded spaces or areas with poor ventilation, and make sure to get booster jabs at appropriate intervals,” he said.
On Friday, Thailand recorded 2,144 confirmed new Covid-19 cases and 20 fatalities over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, 1,946 patients had recovered and were discharged from hospitals. Thailand’s accumulated Covid cases this year stand at 2,317,520. Total cases since the pandemic began in early 2020 amount to 4,540,955.
