Thailand’s Public Health Ministry is proposing mass COVID-19 testing of over 200,000 people at all fresh markets in the 29 “dark red” provinces.
Deputy government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul said the proposal will be submitted to the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) this week for approval. The plan is a proactive measure aimed at reducing transmission of the virus, after authorities found that fresh markets are the source of major infection clusters.
She said 132 markets in 23 provinces were found to be linked to 14,678 COVID-19 infections between April 1st and August 10th, as reported by the Public Health Ministry. The testing program will target vendors, workers, shoppers and residents in nearby communities.
Ms. Traisulee said over 850,000 sets of the COVID-19 antigen test kits will be used in the testing program, which is expected to take a full month to complete. The program will also involve other COVID-19 control measures, including preparing more field hospitals and COVID-19 isolation facilities for new infections detected during the testing. (NNT)
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