Thai health authorities have announced their intention to manage the transition of COVID-19 to endemic disease by delaying the spread of COVID-19 and switching to TKA as the primary screening method.
Kiatiphum Wongrajit, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, said Thailand has entered its third year of dealing with COVID-19, which was initially intended to be treated and controlled in the same way as avian flu and SARS.
While Thailand experienced a massive outbreak between May and August 2021, vaccinations were completed quickly and the country reopened to tourists! Thailand plans to coexist with COVID-19 to develop its economy.
Dr. Kiatiphum said that as more and more people became immune, public health authorities would manage the wave of infections in a way that would allow Covid to enter an epidemic phase.
Supakit Sirilak, director general of the Department of Medical Sciences, said that at present, Covid does not cause severe symptoms. However, transmission is occurring more rapidly. Therefore, it is necessary to change the method of testing for the disease from RT-PCR( long and expensive), to ATK (Antigen Test Kit) method. Dr. Supakit added that billions of baht have been spent by the National Health Security Office (NHSO) on RT-PCR tests.
The director general explained that from now on, people suspected of being infected will be tested by the ATK method and placed in home isolation (HI) or group isolation (CI) if they test positive and have mild or no symptoms of Covid. If symptoms progress, RT-PCR testing will be performed and individuals will enter the treatment process.
Individuals who test negative but have a history of exposure to the virus should self-care and perform an ATK test every 3 days, or 2 days after the last test if symptoms increase.
