Reduction in Covid cases expected by mid-October

Reduction in Covid cases expected by mid-October

Covid-19 infections are expected to level off by mid-October, says Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University.

In a post on Saturday on his Facebook page, Dr Yong played down the scale of the current outbreak, although he acknowledged the exact number of infections was unknown as many with mild symptoms would not report to a doctor.

Reports say BA.4 and BA.5 are the country's dominant sub-variants, said the doctor, with infections having been on the rise since January before peaking during the current rainy season, consistent with the pattern of increasing respiratory diseases around this time of year.

From July 31 to Aug 6, there were 33,679 new Covid-19 cases daily on average, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

"However, that number should drop from the middle of October," Dr Yong said.

"No matter how many jabs people had and regardless of the types of vaccine, people are not immune to contracting the virus.

"But the vaccine can reduce the severity of the disease," Dr Yong said, adding the best immunity is derived from being both infected and vaccinated.

As the vaccine is expensive and caters mainly to the original strain of Covid-19, where possible, booster shots may be held off until next year when new, cheaper alternatives become available, he said.

He said it may be time to deploy the knowledge cultivated from handling the pandemic to figure out new, more cost-effective ways to fight the disease.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has ordered law enforcement agencies to act swiftly against those who produce and peddle fake ATK test kits, following a recent seizure of counterfeits worth more than 2 million baht in Nonthaburi and Nakhon Pathom.

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