Recovering Covid patients with no more symptoms will be sent home ten days after admission to make room for more new cases, the Ministry of Public Health said on Friday.

“If there is no symptom at all, some cases could even be sent home after seven days but they will still be within the home isolation programme,” said Dr Somsak Akksilp, the director-general of the Department of Medical Services.

The previous treatment period in a hospital was 14 days.

“We are doing this is so that we can take in more new cases who have more chance to spread the virus than the recovering patients who are no longer showing any symptoms,” he said.

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Thursday that there are nearly 100,000 Covid patients within the home isolation programme.  

Patients within the programme are either asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms.

The government said they are supporting them with three meals per day, medical equipment including thermometer and oximeter, medicines such as Favipiravir or a traditional Thai herb called “fah talai jone” (Andrographis Paniculata), based on their condition, and remote communication with doctors and or nurses.

For recovering patients, they will continue to receive the three meals per day from the state so that they do not have to leave their house to look for food, Dr Somsak said.

Thailand has been reporting more than 18,000 new Covid cases per day since the beginning of August.

Around 40 per cent of daily new cases were being found within the Bangkok and Metropolitan Region (BMR), which is leading to the shortage of hospital beds for moderate and severe cases within the region.

Given that 80 per cent of new cases were either asymptomatic and experiencing mild symptoms, the government has launched the home isolation at the beginning of July.

It was then followed by the community isolation programme for patients living in an accommodation that is not suitable for home isolation.

The CCSA said on Thursday that there are now 64 community isolation facilities in Bangkok with a capacity of 6,958 beds and is now accommodating 3,015 Covid patients at the moment.

The health ministry has also clarified the regulations on antigen test kit (ATK) following public confusion whether people who have tested positive with ATK will have to be tested again with RT-PCR test in order to enter the home isolation programme or not.

Dr Somsak said anyone who has tested positive for Covid via antigen test kit (ATK) will be accepted into the home isolation community programmes.

Positive ATK results are now being considered “probable cases” instead of a confirmed case because there is a 3 to 5-per-cent of a false positive, Dr Somsak said.

“People who tested positive with ATK do not have to be tested again with RT-PCR test in order to enter the home isolation programme,” he said.

“They can also enter the community isolation programme, hospitels and hospitals where there are confirmed Covid patients but they have to be tested again with RT-PCR test and they have to sign a consent form before entering these facilities.”

Daily numbers

The CCSA reported 21,379 new Covid cases and 191 related deaths in the past 24 hours, both are new records.

The third wave, which started within the BMR, has led to 685,821 cases and 5,760 deaths since April 1 with a mortality rate of 0.84 per cent.

Another 22,172 people have recovered from Covid in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of people who have recovered in the third wave up to 468,478.

There are now 212,926 Covid patients being treated at hospitals. Of that, 85,030 are being treated at private and public hospitals and 127,896 are being treated at field hospitals.   

From the total number of Covid patients, 4,999 are in critical condition including 1,038 on ventilators.

Of the 20,885 cases within the general Thai population (excluding 484 cases that were found in prisons and ten imported cases), the highest numbers 4,700 (new record) in Bangkok followed by 1,355 Samut Sakhon, 1,336 in Samut Prakan, 1,325 in Chonburi, 716 in Nonthaburi, 552 in Pathum Thani and 527 in Chachoengsao.

 

 

THAI Enquirer