The change will mark the end of the COVID UCEP Plus program, which provided free treatment in private hospitals, as well as to dovers in home or community isolation measures.
The Deputy Secretary General of the National Health Security Bureau, Dr. Atthaporn Limpanyalert, said that the hotline number 1330 will remain in operation to provide basic screening and help find a condition in a hospital.
In addition, patients with commorbidities and emergency patients will continue to be eligible for free treatment at private hospitals under the Universal Emergency Patient Coverage (UCEP) program, with the hotline #1669 assessing their eligibility also remaining available.
Testing for COVID-19 will be arranged based on Department of Disease Control guidelines.
In response to concerns about a possible increase in the number of new positive cases, Mr. Satit Pitutachale, Deputy Minister of Public Health, assured that the health care system has the capacity to handle future infections, and that hospital bed occupancy rates in Bangkok and other provinces are lower than estimated, which means that a large number of beds are still available to absorb a possible resurgence of the disease.
The deputy health minister said that the ministry will have to monitor the spread of the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants to see if they increase the number of daily cases, in which case the health policy will be adapted to the situation if necessary.
