Thailand’s Public Health Ministry urges 10 day quarantine

Thailand’s public health authorities are pushing people to follow the 10-day quarantine period if they test positive for Covid-19. A spokesman for the Public Health Ministry, Dr Rungrueng Kitphati, said that if people have to leave their homes, such as for hospital trips, they must wear masks.

Rungrueng added that outpatients should also stay in well-ventilated rooms, away from others, during their self-quarantine. He recommended they use separate bathrooms as well. If this is not possible, he said that all surfaces must be disinfected after Covid patients use a bathroom. Rungrueng said…

“We found that a number of infected patients failed to comply with the 10-day quarantine rule and went out and about, which is likely to spread the disease to others…”

Despite the world seemingly getting back to normal, the World Health Organisation is warning that the Covid pandemic is far from finished. But in Thailand, and much of the world, people are sick of safety measures.

Meanwhile, Thailand is seeing a so-called “mini-wave” of coronavirus infections, especially in Bangkok. While there have been reports of around 2,000 cases being reported every day, some doctors have claimed that the actual number of current infections is more like 20,000 to 30,000 per day.

The director of epidemiology at the Department of Disease Control said yesterday that there have been almost 400 patients on ventilators in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces over the past two weeks. The director said most are in the high-risk “608” group. This includes people 60 years old and older, those with underlying conditions, and pregnant women.

Yesterday, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said more field hospitals and isolation centres would be reopened to curb the recent spike in Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 if it is necessary. The governor insisted that hospital beds in Bangkok are still available for patients and that the beds in Bangkok field hospitals are only 20% full.

Who knows whether Thailand will heed warnings from authorities about the virus’ spread.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post