Bangkok –
10 to 30 percent of daily fatalities attributed to the Covid-19 infections were not caused by the infection, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health admitted yesterday, March 10th.
Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrajit, Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry, told the Associated Press that a new way of reporting daily fatalities must be applied as the ministry found that some of them were not mainly caused by the Covid-19 infection, with people dying “with” Covid-19 but not “from” the virus.
He stated that about 10 to 30 percent of recorded Covid-19 fatalities were not caused directly by the virus. The victims tested positive but were found with mild symptoms and their deaths were from other health conditions or issues. Some cases of Covid-19 were detected after their death and some were treated at hospitals due to symptoms from their chronic diseases and tested positive before being treated at the hospitals. When these patients were deceased, they were reported as dying due to the virus, in fact, they did not.
“There will be a new adjustment of the fatality report by distinguishing between those deceased with pneumonia, no pneumonia, and unspecified deaths but with the clarification of the actual cause of death,” Dr. Kiattiphum said.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul further stated that the daily report should look at the exact cause of death and not “with” Covid-19. The Ministry of Public Health was now discussing a new way of reporting the daily Covid-19 fatalities by looking at the main symptoms of the virus, such as intubation, pneumonia, lung infections, etc. before officially pronouncing that the Covid-19 was the cause of death.
He added: “If any fatality was not caused by the virus, they must be identified with the actual cause of death and separated from the coronavirus deaths in order not to confuse the public. The Permanent Secretary and the Director-General of the Department of Disease Control were discussing this matter and would come up with a solution very soon.”
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