Dept vows to guard against mutations
Monitoring of coronavirus mutations will stay unchanged when the condition is downgraded to “communicable under surveillance” status from April 1, the Section of Disease Manage (DDC) said on Tuesday.
Covid-19 was announced a dangerous communicable illness in late-February 2020 by the National Contagious Disease Committee (NCDC) to allow health authorities to respond more quickly to the emerging threat.
In Thailand, diseases are currently arranged into three broad categories for disease control, namely general diseases, dangerous contagious diseases, and communicable diseases under security, said Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general from the DDC.
From Oct one, Covid-19 will be placed 57th on the ministry’s list of communicable illnesses under surveillance — which also consists of dengue fever — that require an immediate record be made to the ministry whenever a new case is detected, he or she said.
“Elsewhere in the world, such as in the US and Japan, Covid-19 is now being treated like any various other general disease.
“In Asia, even though the rate of mutation appears to have got slowed, it will be closely monitored to ensure that when any significant new mutations arise, they will be detected early, ” said Dr Opas.
The ministry is also considering packaging Covid-19 shots alongside regular annual flu vaccinations, and further cutting the isolation period, whilst ongoing “assessment” will certainly inform further decisions regarding the remaining restrictions.
“Although they are no longer required, wearing a face mask and social distancing are still highly recommended, ” added the doctor.
A respiratory disease expert, meanwhile, reasoned that the ministry’s move to brand Covid-19 as a communicable disease under surveillance, instead of proclaiming it an endemic disease as initially planned, is due to the infection rate remaining higher than expected.
“The ministry must have communicated with the public more clearly the actual number of new Covid-19 cases remains more than 30, 000 a day, and wearing a face mask and staying away from unnecessary public gatherings remain crucial avoidance measures, ” mentioned Assoc Prof Doctor Nitipat Jiarakul, head of the division associated with respiratory diseases plus tuberculosis at Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital.
“While the ministry insisted the hospital bed occupancy rate was not high, state hospitals were, in fact , nevertheless being told to keep boosting the number of beds to get Covid-19 patients and so they were struggling to deal with the heavy workload, ” he stated.
“There is also a large number of people suffering long Covid as we saw twenty million domestic bacterial infections this year alone, which the ministry has rarely mentioned, ” he or she added.