A specialist in pulmonary disease at Thailand’s Vichaiyut Hospital, Dr. Manoon Leechawengwongs, has reiterated his recommendation that those infected with COVID-19, who have no or mild symptoms, isolate at home.

In his Facebook post today (Tuesday) he said that he had received many calls from people infected with coronavirus but with mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, low fever or slight cough, who want to be treated in a hospital because they don’t want to infect their family members, despite the fact that they have been fully inoculated.

He said he advised them to take medication to address their symptoms, without the need to take Favipiravir, and that there is no need to be admitted to a hospital.

He explained that the Omicron variant has a short incubation period, which is just 2-3 days, during which an infected person can spread the disease from the second day of infection.

Those who are fully inoculated and have received a booster dose can spread the disease for five days after developing symptoms, while the unvaccinated can spread the disease for a longer period.

Before a person realises that they are infected, by taking a rapid antigen test, they may have been spreading the disease for 2-3 days, if they do not protect against spreading the disease to others in the same household.

He recommended that the best defence is to wear face masks at all times, avoid eating close to other people, opening windows for better air circulation, avoiding staying together in air conditioned rooms, regularly washing hands with sanitiser and separating infected waste from ordinary garbage.