Carelessness, partying will bring daily infections up to nearly 3,000, Public Health Ministry warns

Studies have found that the latest wave of Covid-19 infections has been sparked by people aged between 20 and 29, who are very active and have lots of contacts, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, said. 

He also pointed out that entire families getting infected is also becoming more common. 

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry has predicted five scenarios after the Songkran break. They are:

• An average of 9,140 infections daily, if entertainment venues were allowed to stay open. 

• If entertainment venues were only closed in high-risk provinces, then up to 2,996 infections could be expected daily.

• Closing entertainment venues and cutting down on private parties would cut the daily average to 934 infections.

• Closing entertainment venues, cancelling private parties and cutting down public gatherings would bring the daily average down to 593 cases. 

• Closing entertainment venues, cancelling private parties, cutting down on group activities and getting people to work from home would bring the daily average down to 391 cases.

However, the ministry warned that if no measures were in place and people continued leading normal lives, then the number of Covid-19 infections daily would surpass 20,000.