With the Omicron variant having become the dominant strain of the coronavirus in a number of countries, one of Thailand’s top virologists is now cautioning that the variant is able to spread quickly and is hard to detect. People are asked to be aware that their close contacts may be infected and to take precautionary measures.
Dr. Yong Poovorawan, a virology expert at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, said that of late, there has been a trend of the Covid virus being able to spread faster via evolved variants. He said there is now a large number of patients with mild or no symptoms, who are able to spread the virus. The death rate has continually been on the decline globally, with the Wuhan variant dominating the first phase of the pandemic and incurring a fatality rate of 3-5%. Subsequent outbreaks in Europe, especially in Italy, entailed a high fatality rate but the ratio of deaths in patients has since been on the decline. The patient death rate is now lower than 2% globally and is at roughly 0.9% in Thailand. Dr. Yong added that with infections now more prominent in younger age groups, the death rate will continue to decline.
He explained that with most patients now having mild or no symptoms, they become potent carriers of the virus and this is one reason why infections have been spreading rapidly. He noted that almost none of the Covid-positive international travelers that entered Thailand displayed symptoms, meaning they were able to pass through temperature checks.
The virology expert added that the great number of Covid patients this year meant that patient timeline disclosures were no longer workable. Consequently, undiscovered patients became very effective spreaders of the virus.
Dr. Yong said people should bear in mind that their close contacts may be infected, and therefore disease prevention measures must be observed at all times. (NNT)
 |
 |
 |
