The minister said he has asked medical personnel to be prepared to handle the situation, and cited the Division of Epidemiology's report that the outbreak has started to wane and its peak already passed.

Thai Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said there has been a big jump in infections in February, calling on people showing symptoms that could be flu to stay home, to prevent spreading the virus.

Every year, around the world, there are about one billion cases of seasonal flu with three to five million serious illnesses, including 650,000 deaths – equivalent to one person dying from influenza every minute.

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) of Thailand is working to make its own Favipiravir - the antiviral medicine which has been touted as a treatment for COVID-19.

The Ministry of Health (MoH) is taking drastic measures to prevent and control dangerous infectious diseases spurred by extreme weather conditions.

Many health facilities in HCM City have run out of flu vaccines at a time when the peak influenza season is arriving.

Global climate change and the El-Nino phenomenon have raised the risk of epidemic outbreaks if precautious measures are not properly taken, said a health official.