Public Health teams to test 25,000 Phuket locals in bid to boost confidence
The Public Health Ministry will send Comprehensive Covid-19 Response (CCR) teams to Phuket to test up to 25,000 people in a bid to boost tourists’ confidence, the ministry’s deputy permanent-secretary Dr Yongyos Thammawut said on Sunday.
“Nine CCR teams from regional public health offices 11 and 12 will be dispatched from September 21 to 23,” he said. “They will test up to 25,000 Phuket residents for Covid-19. Those who test positive but are asymptomatic will be sent into the home-isolation system, while symptomatic patients will be admitted to hospital.”
Yongyos said with these tests, tourists visiting under the Phuket Sandbox scheme can rest assured they are safe from contracting Covid-19 from locals.
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“So far, the scheme has welcomed more than 30,000 visitors, with no cluster cases among them,” he said. “However, since the programme kicked off on July 1, 96 infected people have been found at Phuket’s screening checkpoints.”
The ministry is also planning to set up an “Oon Jai” clinic at Phuket City Hall to provide Covid-19 tests and initial diagnosis using a portable X-ray machine. The clinic will be open 24/7 and will have a 20-line call centre to provide Covid-19 related advice. This clinic should be up and running in two weeks.