BANGKOK, Thailand – COVID-19 cases in Thailand have risen sharply in recent months after remaining relatively low for much of the year, but the disease is now no more severe than influenza, according to virologist Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan. Prof Dr Yong, a senior virologist at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, said the seasonal pattern of COVID-19 this year has differed noticeably from previous years. Since the pandemic began, COVID-19 in Thailand has generally started spreading after the Songkran holiday, continued through the rainy season and gradually declined from around August. This year, however, infections remained low during the first part of the year before increasing over the past two months.
Thailand is currently near the peak of this year’s COVID-19 wave, Prof Dr Yong said, adding that he expects infections to begin declining in October when schools close for the term.
He said the seasonal pattern of COVID-19 is increasingly resembling that of influenza.
Influenza also spread early in the year during the winter season before rising again over the past two months, slightly later than usual. The two respiratory diseases are therefore now showing similar seasonal patterns. However, influenza has infected about three times as many people this year.
Despite the difference in case numbers, Prof Dr Yong said the fatality rates of the two diseases are now broadly comparable.
COVID-19 has caused 16 deaths among approximately 100,000 reported cases, while influenza has caused about 50 deaths among roughly 350,000 cases. The figures indicate that COVID-19 is no longer more severe than influenza, he said. Thailand’s Department of Disease Control reported 99,691 COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths between January 1 and August 31, with the case fatality rate falling to about 0.02 percent. The number of cases remains considerably below the totals recorded in recent years.
The DDC said the currently dominant Omicron subvariant NB.1.8.1 appears to spread more easily but has not caused more severe disease. Most patients experience upper-respiratory symptoms such as coughing, sore throat, runny nose and low-grade fever. Influenza has also been circulating widely, with 333,032 cases and 48 deaths recorded during the first eight months of 2026.
Health authorities continue to advise people at higher risk of severe illness to take precautions, particularly in crowded or poorly ventilated places. The latest figures indicate that COVID-19 has increasingly settled into a seasonal respiratory illness pattern in Thailand, with its health impact now closer to that of influenza than during the height of the pandemic. (TNA)
