Thailand on Thursday raised its Covid alert level to level 4, the second highest level, in response to a surge in the number of Covid cases over the past week.
Daily cases rose to nearly 6,000 on Thursday, fueled by the Omicron variant and gatherings over the new year period. Despite the increase in level, there will be no lockdown, the Ministry of Public Health said.
“There will be no lockdown but some activities could be restricted in at-risk venues with crowded conditions and lack of proper airflow for public safety,” said Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, the director-general of the Department of Disease Control.
“This is an announcement to raise the alert level and we will have to discuss with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) first before new measures can come into effect,” he said.
Thailand reported 5,775 new Covid cases and 11 related fatalities on Thursday compared to around 3,500 per day in mid-December.
The Omicron variant has spread to 54 provinces with 2,338 confirmed cases between November 1 and January 4.
Most of the Omicron cases are being found in Bangkok (585), Kalasin (233), Roi Et (180), Phuket (175), Chonburi (162) and Samut Prakan (106).
From the sample size of 11,158 cases taken from around the country between the same periods of time, 78.91 per cent were Delta variant, 20.92 per cent were Omicron, 0.13 per cent were Alpha and 0.04 per cent were Beta.
The Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit said the new alert level could lead to new restriction measures including the shutting down of at-risk venues, applying the work-from-home model, discouraging people from unnecessary traveling between provinces and limitations on gatherings.
The number of daily Covid cases could reach 30,000 per day by mid-March if the majority of people and businesses fail to strictly follow prevention measures, the ministry said in December.
The Department of Medical Services said they are preparing around 11,000 hospital beds around the country to cope with new severe cases. Based on initial analysis, only 1.5 per cent of Omicron patients were severe cases which required 14-day of hospitalization.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration said they are preparing hospital beds and setting up new quarantine centers and field hospitals to prepare for the new surge of daily Covid cases including 2,922 hospital beds in hospitals, 2,898 filed hospital beds, 19,525 hospitel beds and 40 community isolation centers with a combined capacity of 5,066 beds.