Covid alert level increased as new cases rise

The Public Health Ministry has raised the nation’s Covid-19 alert level from 3 to 4 following a rapid increase in Omicron variant infections.

Health permanent secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit announced the decision on Thursday morning.

He said raising the warning to level 4 included encouraging people to work from home, suspend travel, closing risk areas and limiting the number of people at gatherings.

“We are seeing a fast outbreak at this time. There are several provinces that have more than one new case, including 769 cases in Chon Buri and 454 in Bangkok. So we do need to raise the warning to level 4,” he said at a press conference in Phuket.

The decision came after new cases jumped to 5,775 over the previous 24 hours from 3,899 the day before.

Dr Kiattiphum said patients with mild symptoms should be isolated at home, to allow hospitals to cater for patients with more serious conditions.

In Bangkok, Opas Karnkawinpong, the director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said new cases could quickly surpass 10,000 a day, based on the rise in infections reported on Thursday morning.

“We could have over 10,000 new infections [daily] very soon,” he said.

He strongly advised people to postpone non-essential trips to other provinces and countries. “Public transport should be avoided for interprovincial trips,” Dr Opas said.

If people have a positive ATK test, they should contact hotline 1330 of the National Health Security Office or their provincial public health office, he said.