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Thailand’s PM Prayut orders health services to prepare for post-Songkran Covid spike

Government spokespersons announced yesterday that Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered the country’s health institutes to prepare for a spike in Covid-19 infections following the Songkran holiday, when people return to work. This includes the Ministry of Public Health, and other state agencies.

Today, there are 128 new Covid-related deaths, and 17,775 new cases recorded. The number of new daily Covid cases continues to trend down for the past 2 weeks, whilst deaths are slowly trending upward. Today is the highest number of Covid-related deaths since numbers have been over 100 for the past 8 days. Hospitals nationwide are stockpiling medical supplies in preparation for a spike in COVID-19 infections following the recent Songkran holiday period.

According to Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the focus will be primarily on ensuring available treatment for groups most considered at risk of contracting the coronavirus.

He added that people who are asymptomatic or exhibiting moderate symptoms can be treated at home and will be prescribed medication based on the severity of their symptoms.

Spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said the NHSO recommends people observe their health for a week to 10 days for signs of infection, which may include a high fever, cough or runny nose. Meanwhile, deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said Prayut seeks to better inform the public on ‘long Covid’. Traisuree said long Covid is now more common following the rise in number of cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variants.

Dr. Thira Woratanarat, an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, told the Bangkok Post that “long Covid is a real cause for concern”.

“Long Covid is real. Don’t be fooled by the illusion that Covid-19 is more or less like a common flu, takes a little time to recover from and will soon become an endemic disease”.

Some ‘doomsday’ predications from a few doctors in Thailand speculated daily cases could reach 100,000 in the months after Songkran. Their predictions have not been repeated by the Government or CCSA.

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