The COVID-19 situation in Thailand is steadily improving, with the number of hospital admissions and the death toll dropping by 30%, to an average of 90 and six respectively, between January 15th and 21st, according to the Department of Disease Control.
DDC Director-General Dr. Tares Krassanairawiwong said yesterday (Wednesday) that 627 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals, averaging 90 cases per day last week, 277 of whom were suffering from lung infections, including 179 cases requiring ventilators.
The death toll in the past week was 44, or an average of six cases a day, representing a fall of 32.3% compared to the previous week. Accumulated hospital admissions this year are 2,593, with 167 deaths.
Among foreign tourists, eight were found to be infected, but only one was admitted to hospital between January 8th and 21st. The eight cases include three Chinese and one each from Myanmar, Cambodia, Japan, the UK and South Korea.
According the Medical Sciences Department, most of the infections in Thailand were found to be the Omicron BA.2.75 sub-variant.
RT-PCR tests on passengers departing Thailand for countries requiring such tests before departure have shown between 300 and 400 cases, including Thais and other nationalities. There were only 10 cases involving Chinese nationals, representing just 4% of all Chinese arrivals.
Although the COVID-19 situation has improved, Dr. Tares suggested, however, that Thai people should not lower their guard and should wear face masks in crowded places, frequently clean their hands with sanitising gel and take rapid antigen tests if they develop COVID-related symptoms.
