Thailand Ministry of Health reports 14,373 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 27 deaths since yesterday. The ministry also announced an additional 11,551 recovered patients.
The government will move ahead with the planned change for COVID-19 treatment. Even if a few members urged to delay the implementation due to the current surge in cases. Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said this is in line with the planned downgrade of the virus.
The Ministry plans to remove COVID-19 from the coverage of the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (UCEP). This will take effect on March 1, 2022. Those who will test positive for covid but not in a critical state must go to their registered hospital for treatment. Previously, any hospital is open for treatment for both mild and critical conditions.
Mr. Anutin affirmed that COVID will be reduced from pandemic to an endemic by the end of the year. He insisted before that we must live with COVID. Also, the most recent variants are less deadly. This is largely due to the vaccination.
The CCSA also advised that the number of cases should be leveling out soon. This is due to the increase in cases in the past few days. Apisamai Srirangson, CCSA spokeswoman said that the cases should stabilize soon and should begin falling by this week. This is the same globally as cases begin to fall.
She also commented on the recorded deaths. “All of them had underlying illnesses. Fourteen were unvaccinated. Two had received one vaccine dose. Two others had their second dose more than four months ago. Two had already received their third dose but had not reached the time when their immunity would peak yet,” she said.
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