Bangkok infection rate ‘out of control’ as 1 in 5 test positive
The Rural Doctors Society (RDS) warned on Friday that the infection rate in Bangkok communities has reached 19 per cent, indicating that the outbreak is now out of control in the capital.
RDS is working with the National Health Security Office (NHSO) on active case finding in over 30 Bangkok communities that have never before been investigated by the Public Health Ministry. Eleven teams of doctors have been giving swab tests at 14 locations with a target of testing 15,000 people in total.
Most of the doctors running the testing campaign are from Jana Hospital in Songkhla province, said Dr Suphat Hasuwankij, president of the Rural Doctors Society.
“With limited personnel we can test about 500 people in the morning and 500 more in the afternoon,” he said.
However, testing people will only help identify the infected so they can be isolated from others in the community, he added. “The risk of the virus spreading will still persist until we vaccinate everyone to reduce the infection rate, severity of symptoms and deaths.”
Bangkok reported 3,104 new infections on Friday, pushing accumulated cases since April 1 to 126,610.