The Public Health Ministry said it expected the number of new Covid-19 cases to drop to around 5,000 per day before November.
However, health officials fear that the case toll could rise again at a later date.
On Tuesday, permanent secretary for public health Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrajit said the estimated 5,000 new daily cases was only a “statistical projection,” adding that the risk of increasing new infections remains due to several factors.
Key factors such as infection clusters and the spread of new coronavirus variants can trigger a further surge in daily Covid-19 cases, Dr. Kiattiphum explained.
The government also expects the number of infected patients with severe symptoms requiring intensive care to drop dramatically as the case toll decline, he added.
According to Dr. Kiattiphum, the apparent improvement in Thailand’s situation resulted from the lockdown measures and strict controls the government imposed in dark red or higher risk areas, the current successful national vaccination campaign, and the massive Covid-19 testing.
“The risk of a large cluster of new infections occurring is still out there, yet it is very low, while the possibility of a new variant of the virus spreading is still rated by experts as not high,” he said.
Dr. Kiattiphum also stated that Thailand’s residents should learn to live with another Covid-19 outbreak if it occurs.
“If it does, it would be expected to subside enough by March next year when we could again be back to a more normal situation,” he added.
The 5,000-case infection rate in 24 hours is controllable, Dr. Kiattiphum said, adding that the number of patients with severe symptoms and coronavirus-related fatalities should come much closer to that from influenza if such figures are maintained.
Meanwhile, the government expects to accelerate nationwide inoculations to reach a vaccination rate similar to European countries with similar outbreaks and population sizes, including the United Kingdom.
On Tuesday, Thailand recorded 9,489 new Covid-19 cases and 129 coronavirus-related deaths, a significant drop compared to the 10,288 new infections and 101 fatalities recorded on Monday.
