Thai government to change how Covid-19 deaths are recorded

The Public Health Ministry says it will adjust how it records Covid-19 deaths after it emerged that up to 30% of patients who died passed away as a result of underlying illnesses. According to a Bangkok Post report, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul says officials will revise the data to ensure the cause of death in Covid patients is more accurately established. The move comes as Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit from the health ministry confirms that between 10 and 30% of patients who died while infected with the virus also had conditions such as cancer.

Thailand reported another 74 deaths yesterday, which was a record high during this current wave, but significantly less than the 312 deaths reported during the pandemic’s peak. New infections rose for the third day in a row yesterday, at 22,984. This figure doesn’t include 49,494 positive antigen results, which would bring that daily total to 72,478.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reports that the National Health Security Office continues to struggle with the volume of calls it’s receiving from Covid patients. Dr Jadet Thammathat-aree from the NHSO says the office has missed over 3,500 calls and messages due to the service being overwhelmed. He says the office will follow up on the missed calls and messages to ask patients about their symptoms. He adds that it will take around 5 days to return the calls of all patients in Bangkok and in 5 surrounding provinces.

Patients with only mild symptoms will be given a supply of Favipiravir and told to rest for 10 days. The NHSO and the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine have also distributed around 40,000 packs of the alternative treatment green chiretta to 900 communities.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post