BANGKOK – The Ministry of Public Health has reported that COVID-19 continues to mutate, but the rate of mutation is lower than that of influenza viruses. The ministry has also warned members of the public that rapid tests are not entirely reliable, while stressing the importance of wearing protective masks.
The Director-General of the Department of Medical Science, Dr. Opas Karnwinpong, said real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the standard for detecting and confirming COVID-19 cases, while rapid tests can be performed, if a patient still displays related symptoms for at least seven days. Therefore, rapid tests are not very useful for disease diagnosis and control. Online advertisements offering rapid tests are illegal, as they have to be performed by medical technicians, physicians or experts at health institutions.
Dr. Pilailuk Akkapaiboon Okada, a medical scientist, explained the process to determine the genetic sequence of the COVID-19 virus. There are three groups. The original hosts for the virus were bats in China. Group B is a mutated virus found outside China, and found in Thailand. Group C is a virus that has further mutated, and it is prevalent in Europe and Singapore.
“It has now been discovered that the virus is continually mutating. When compared to other viruses that Thai people are well aware of, such as seasonal flu, the rate of mutation is slower. That’s the first point. Secondly, some Thai people are concerned that the mutated virus will be more deadly and infectious. As Dr. Pilailuk said, it is mutating at a very slow pace and there is no significant data to verify that it will be more deadly and infectious. Researchers at the Department of Medical Science, from Chulalongkorn University and Siriraj Hospital, are doing their best to decipher its genome and gather all relevant data. These will be used for vaccine development and finding new ways to diagnose the disease”, said Dr. Opas.
The Director of the Bureau of General Communicable Diseases, Dr. Sopon Iamsirithawon, stressed the importance of wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveys of people wearing face masks have been conducted five times. According the latest survey, which was conducted last week, 83 percent of respondents said they will wear masks if they have flu-like symptoms, 12 percent said they will wear them to protect themselves and four percent said they will not wear them. Dr. Sopon expressed concern for the last group, as they can potentially spread the virus further.(NNT)
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