Thailand Ministry of Health reports 18,883 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 32 deaths since yesterday. The ministry also announced an additional 14,914 recovered patients.
As the cases continue to rise once again, virologists issues a warning that cases could reach 30,000 – 50,000. This is the most likely scenario if there are no measures taken to curb the spread.
The Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary, Suttipong Juljarern ordered provincial governors to come up with COVID measures. These are plans to help curb the virus spread and will be strictly enforced. He also advised provinces located near the border to tighten security measures. Part of their concerns are migrants crossing borders illegally.
In addition, they are also required to raise public awareness about the COVID conditions. They would also like to seek public cooperation to contain the spread. Local leaders are asked to prepare contingency plans in case of an outbreak.
Chulalongkorn University’s Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Yong Poovorawan posted a message on Facebook. “Covid-19 cases are also on an upward trend in Thailand and the country may see daily cases reach 30,000-50,000,” he said. He also noted that if antigen kit results are added to the daily count, it would probably show 25,000 a day.
He urged those who tested positive through an ATK test and are asymptomatic to isolate right away. There is no need to take an RT-PCR test. This will help reduce a load of laboratories on running tests. If all ATK tests will be retested through an RT-PCR test, the cost will increase.
With the Songkran Festival on the horizon, health experts continue to suggest following the universal measures. These are vaccination, social distancing, wearing of masks, and frequent washing of hands.