Thailand’s Department of Disease Control (DDC) has commented that schools should not be closed to control the “seasonal surge of COVID-19”, as proper screening and isolation measures suffice to limit the spread within education entities.
In a Bangkok Post article, Spokesperson for the DDC Dr. Jurai Wongsawat said on Wednesday that the cluster outbreaks of the virus have been identified. 6 outbreaks in prisons with 198 cases, 5 in schools with 258 cases, 2 in military camps totalling 178 cases and an additional one hospital cluster with 35 cases.
Dr. Jurai said that the department’s recommendation is to “intensify screening of students and staff”. If infection is found, home isolation would suffice. Schools need not to close, only in extreme cases where control becomes difficult.
As standard operations, Dr. Jurai also advises schools to immediately notify healthcare officials if two or more COVID cases are detected in the same classroom within a week.
Even with the assurance of the DDC however, schools have opted to conduct classes online as a safety precaution. The number of infections is expected to rise during the rainy season, which usually coincides with the regular flu season. Children have been identified as a high-risk group for infection.
“The current COVID outbreak in Thailand mirrors trends seen in other countries like Singapore and China. It is now in a surge phase, but with lower severity,” said the DDC.
The same report suggests that the sudden surge in COVID cases started after the Songkran festival in April. There were 9,083 cases during April 20-26 and as of May 18-24, there have been 67,484 cases. There have been 211,717 confirmed cases and 51 deaths so far in 2025.
The DDC points out that the JN.1 variant remains the dominant COVID strain in Thailand with about 63% of its cases. The XEC variant has declined at 3%.
Preventive measures are encouraged to the general public like frequent hand washing, proper mask wearing and avoiding crowded areas.