A number of Thai hospitals are phasing out their COVID-19 specific wards, as the number of COVID-19 admissions steadily declines, said Director-General of the Medical Services Department Dr. Somsak Akksilp, today (Monday).

As the COVID-19 situation is improving, he said that more patients are being treated at home, thus reducing the number of hospital admissions.

Citing the case of Lerdsin Hospital, he said that they stopped admitting COVID-19 patients into their field hospital yesterday and now refer them to other facilities, in line with their medical entitlements.

The hospital used to reserve 200 beds for serious COVID-19 cases, but there are only between 30-40 such patients currently being treated.

Dr. Somsak said that, in the next one to two weeks, the COVID-19 wards at Lerdsin Hospital will revert to wards for other patients, unless there is an outbreak of a new COVID-19 variant or a resurgence of serious infections, adding that other hospitals are also in the process of phasing out COVID-19 wards.

He said that health agencies are, however, still closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation globally, noting that, in some countries, new COVID-19 sub-variants have been spreading.

He said health officials have been discussing, with those responsible for the treatment of patients, ways to prevent and treat patients when COVID-19 is reclassified as an endemic disease.

As most schools resume on-site classes in the middle of this month, Dr. Somsak urged parents to take their children, who are five and over, for vaccination.

He expressed concern for children under two, because there are still no vaccines available for them.  He suggested, however, that the best protection for these very young children is for everyone around them to be fully inoculated, with booster shots.

Meanwhile, Dr. Naronglit Masaya-anon, of Ramathibodi Hospital, said that surgery services at the hospital are gradually returning to normal.

Dr. Watcharapong Piyaphanee, of Mahidol University’s Faculty of Tropical Medicine issued a warning about the increase in cases of dengue fever, noting that the symptoms are similar to those associated with COVID-19 and the patients may die if they do not get timely treatment.

Thailand on Monday recorded 9,331 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, the first time in almost three months the daily figure is below 10,000.