Bangkok –
The number of daily infections could reach up to as many as 18,000 people by the end of February while critical cases such as those on ventilators or with pneumonia have been decreasing since September of last year, said a prominent advisor to the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) yesterday, February 11th.
Dr. Udom Kachintorn told the Associated Press that the trend of Covid-19 daily infections that had recently risen was under the forecast of the Ministry of Public Health and was not a surprise, prompted by the easing of almost all social activities. However, the number could rise to 17,000 or 18,000 people by the end of the month, but hopefully not to 20,000.
On the contrary, the number of patients with critical conditions, including pneumonia and those on ventilators, had significantly dropped. Patients with pneumonia had decreased 10 times from about 5,000 in August-September 2021 to only 500 this month while patients on ventilators had also dropped from 500-600 to about 110 during the same period of time.
The advisor also mentioned how the measures in the country became more relaxed with no new regulations announced. But he was concerned that the public may not understand why the government still did not come up with new restrictions measures as the daily infections were gradually increasing. Dr. Udom wanted to stress that rising cases did not mean serious cases were rising and that the vast majority were mild or asymptomatic and deaths remained low/stable, almost all those with significant underlying health issues and problems.
He urged the public to understand that the government had spent a lot of its budget to help support local businesses, especially in tourism, hospitality, and entertainment venue businesses. The main focus for the country was to revive the domestic economy while people in the country could live safely with the disease before the government could make the disease endemic.
“I also told Public Health Ministry that, in a month or two, we may have to make a similar announcement as Sweden in which they canceled all budget subsidies mainly because there was no sufficient budget, and as a result possibly wind down many things like widespread testing, tracking, etc. But we need to prepare our people well because they were the important factor. Everything must be adjusted according to the global context,” Dr. Udom said.
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