Pattaya is preparing to stop using hotels to warehouse mildly ill Covid-19 patients, switching exclusively to a home-isolation policy.
Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai said March 18 that Pattaya will stop using “hospitels” after the government declares Covid-19 an endemic disease. The Public Health Ministry hopes to do that July 1 but must meet certain benchmarks it’s not close to achieving.
New daily cases would have to drop to 1,000-2,000 and the fatality rate to about 0.1%. Currently, the fatality rate is at 0.19% in Thailand and 1.3% worldwide.
Chonburi alone on Saturday reported 5,923 new coronavirus cases, 1,193 confirmed through RT-PCR tests and the others from antigen tests, with three deaths. Confirmed cases in Pattaya totaled 273.
Manote said while the number of cases remains high, the disease is not serious for more than 90% of those infected. Therefore, isolation in a converted hotel, or “hospitel”, isn’t needed. People can simply isolate at home.
Pattaya will supply those infected at home with antiviral medication and monitor their conditions. The city is planning to set up a building where “green” patients can pick up medication and go home.
The timeline for the switch depends on the central government, Manote said.
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