A second wave of Covid-19 is likely to occur following the lifting of all lockdown measures, and the kingdom must be ready for it, a medical expert has warned.
Dr Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Mahidol University, took to Facebook Live to warn the public. He said a second wave could occur, but it would be limited and found in contained areas.
Some countries that previously recorded low numbers of new cases have recorded a resurgence of Covid-19.
Second waves of the Covid-19 have been reported in countries with previously few to no recorded cases such as China, Japan, South Korea and Germany after lockdown measures were lifted.
The Thai government is expected to lift most of its lockdown measures next month. It has been almost one month since the country began recording zero cases of new local transmissions. Most of the newly recorded cases have been attributed to those returning from abroad.
Dr Prasit said a second wave appears to be unavoidable without lockdown measures, in the absence of herd immunity.
He added that people have not developed natural antibodies.
“We want to be able to limit the number of cases and contain infections during a second wave so our healthcare workers can deal with the cases without creating a financial burden for the government,” Dr Prasit said.
“We don’t want to reimpose the lockdown and force everything to stop,” he added. “The key is to win public cooperation by not lowering our guard.”
