New Covid-19 infections fall, but critical cases rise
Don’t let the decrease in new daily Coronavirus cases mislead you. The number of critical Covid-19 cases and deaths are on the rise and Thailand is far from over the Coronavirus pandemic. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration put out a notice today reminding people that vigilance is still imperative and that people need to follow safety measures and should minimize unnecessary activities like holiday travelling.
The CCSA said that before we celebrate this week’s falling numbers, we need to look at the overall situation. In Bangkok and in Thailand as a whole, the number of new Covid-19 infections reported fell with the passing of each consecutive day. But at the same time, the number of critically sick Covid-19 patients have climbed on each consecutive day of the week. The number of people requiring ventilators mirrored this daily rise in numbers.
| New Thai Covid-19 Cases | New Bangkok Covid-19 Cases | Critical Condition Covid-19 Patients | Covid-19 Patients on Ventilators | |
| Monday | 628 | 169 | ||
| Tuesday | 2,174 | 993 | 695 | 199 |
| Wednesday | 2,001 | 830 | 786 | 230 |
| Thursday | 1,864 | 689 | 871 | 250 |
| Friday | 1,579 | 417 |
These crucial statistics point to a crisis as hospitals struggle to provide adequate care for infected patients and the need for Thailand to continue to fight the virus and avoid falling into desperate medical supply and space issues like India.
Another worrisome statistic is the 5-10% infection rate during recent mass testings. Between Apr 5 and 27 Bangkok officials tested 28,022 people and 4.54% of them tested positive for Covid-19. But yesterday, out of 7,330 people checked in mass testing, 5.17% were infected. And in the poor neighbourhoods of Klong Toey district, 9.57% of people tested for Covid-19 had the virus.
Much of the current spread can still be traced back to infections clusters in entertainment venues that proliferated across the country. 7,755 Covid-19 infections, over 6,800 of them in Bangkok, originated from these nightclubs, bars and nightlife hotspots. People travelling to their home towns and back during Songkran helped spread Covid-19 throughout the whole country. With the critical Covid-19 cases on the rise, CCSA implores people to avoid any unnecessary travel to avoid another spread.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
