Bangkok (VNA) - Schools should not be closed to control a seasonal surge of COVID-19, as proper screening and isolation measures are sufficient to limit the virus's spread within education institutions, says Thailand’s Department of Disease Control (DDC).

Dr Jurai Wongsawat, spokeswoman for the DDC, has said cluster outbreaks of the virus have been identified in several settings: six outbreaks in prisons involving 198 cases, five in schools with 258 cases, two in military camps, totalling 178 cases, and one hospital cluster with 35 cases.

She recommend schools intensify screening of students and staff. If infection is found, home isolation is sufficient. There is no need to close schools, except in extreme cases where control becomes difficult.

She also advised that schools should notify health officials immediately if two or more COVID-19 cases are detected in the same classroom within one week.

She cited that the current COVID-19 outbreak in Thailand mirrors trends seen in other countries like Singapore and China. It is now in a surge phase, but with lower severity.

She said that COVID-19 cases have sharply increased following the Songkran festival in April. The number of reported infections rose from 9,083 cases during April 20–26 to 67,484 cases from May 18–24, a figure exceeding the five-year average and last year's count for the same period. There have been 211,717 confirmed cases and 51 deaths so far this year.

The infection rate currently stands at 326 cases per 100,000 people, while the fatality rate remains relatively low at 0.08 deaths per 100,000 people. The majority of deaths, 78%, occurred among elderly patients, most of whom developed lung infections due to the virus.

The DDC says the JN.1 variant remains the dominant COVI-19 strain in Thailand, accounting for 63% of sequenced cases. The XEC variant is in decline, representing just 3%, which is consistent with global trends.

The Ministry of Public Health is encouraging preventive measures, such as wearing masks, practising frequen🦋t handꦺwashing, and avoiding crowded areas. Travellers returning from countries with ongoing outbreaks should monitor their health, the ministry advised./.