More hospitals have reopened Covid-19 wards as infections are rising, thus prompting the need for more hospital beds, according to the Department of Disease Control (DDC).
The number of beds available at hospitals occupied by Covid-19 patients jumped to 8.5% from 5% last month, the department said.
Dr Sophon Iamsirithaworn, the department's deputy chief, said yesterday that hospitals in many provinces had reserved more beds for Covid-19 patients due to a rise in daily cases.
As of Monday, there were 649 patients hospitalised with lung infections and another 385 patients who needed life support.
The bed occupancy rate of patients in yellow and red groups -- those in critical condition -- is 8.5%.
Dr Sophon said hospitals in some provinces might have a higher bed occupancy rate for Covid-19 patients, although he insisted the situation is ma- nageable.
Patients who have underlying conditions will face higher risks of dying from disease complications, and make up more than half the Covid-19 fatalities at the moment, he added.
Dr Yong Poovorawan, head of Chulalongkorn University's Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology, posted on Facebook yesterday that long-acting antibodies (LAAB) treatments such as Evushield should be administered to people who are vulnerable to Covid-19 infection, such as those with chronic kidney disease, cancer and organ transplant patients.
In the Facebook post, Dr Yong warned that the efficacy of LAAB gradually decreases as Omicron sublineages, such as XBB, continue to mutate.
"LAAB should be distributed during this time when Covid-19 cases are increasing because those antibodies will be useless if the virus has mutated further," he wrote.