Infections can only be curbed with mass testing, more jabs, says professor
As soon as Covid-19 arrived in Wuhan, China introduced a timely lockdown and dared to make strong decisions despite the enormous damage, Assoc Prof Dr Piti Srisaengnam from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Economics said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Wuhan was put under full lockdown, with nobody allowed out of their homes, no public transport and all borders closed. Residents were only allowed out of their homes three times a week to grab food.
However, he said, when there was an outbreak in Guangzhou, the authorities deployed tracking technology, launched intensive virus checks and offered easy and quick access to jabs.
Piti pointed out that the Guangzhou model was more effective and less painful because it was well planned and well implemented.
“Leaders should have the courage to make strong decisions based on careful, well-rounded information and should have plans to support this decision,” he said.
Hence, he said, for the ongoing lockdown to be successful, the authorities must provide proactive testing 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with fully vaccinated volunteers. He also said that the authorities should ensure strict law enforcement without discrimination, provide food and necessities to people under quarantine, and most importantly, accelerate mass vaccination.
“In this situation, Thailand requires strong leaders who can implement comprehensive measures,” Piti said.