Thai government to downgrade Covid-19 disease status from October 1

Thailand’s government is expected to downgrade the Covid-19 disease status from October 1. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul made the announcement, saying that the disease will be classified as “communicable under surveillance.” Until now, the Covid-19 disease was classified as a “dangerous communicable disease,” but Anutin says the current situation has been deemed suitable for regrading. In February 2020, the virus was classified as a dangerous communicable disease, to enable the Thai authorities to react swiftly to contain the spread.

As of Wednesday, the number of patients who need oxygen supplies had dropped to 300, while most fatalities were from those with underlying health conditions. The Health Minister says the government is still footing the bill for those with mild and severe Covid symptoms. He says Long Acting Antibody doses have been distributed to hospitals and medical centres nationwide. Such LAAB doses are meant for vulnerable groups like senior citizens and those with underlying conditions like kidney patients.

“I would like to emphasise that those who have not yet received booster shots should do so to alleviate the severity of their symptoms. Now vaccines in Thailand are available for people of all age groups.”

Anutin reiterated that face masks are not mandatory but are recommended in crowded places. The director-general of the Department of Disease Control has also announced that the government is purchasing three million doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged between six months and five years. A professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital Mahidol University, says the Pfizer jabs can help safeguard children from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome. MISC-C is one of the conditions associated with the Covid virus, with 1 of 10,000 child Covid patients displaying the syndrome on average.

Children can develop MIS-C from two to six weeks after recovering from Covid. Symptoms of MIS-C include acute diarrhoea, high fever, and organ inflammation.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post