About 2,000 Pattaya residents submitted to rapid coronavirus tests as the city tries to get a handle of its raging Covid-19 outbreak.
After several days of declining numbers of new cases, Chonburi rocketed to a near-high Thursday, reporting 1,669 cases and 11 deaths. Of those, 204 were found in Banglamung District, which includes Pattaya.
A key to breaking the cycle is testing and Pattaya, the Chonburi Public Health Department and the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation joined Aug. 11 to offer free rapid antigen tests.
While not as accurate as RT-PCR tests, antigen tests rarely return false positives, are cheaper and faster, with results in as little as 30 minutes.
Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome, Banglamung District Chief Wuttisak Singhadecho and public health Deputy Director Dr. Wichai Thanasopon observed the operation at Sawang Boriboon’s Naklua headquarters.
Sonthaya said that, despite the tiny change of false positives, anyone with one will have an RT-PCR test to confirm.
All positives are considered “probable cases” and are eligible for free medication and home isolation services. People showing Covid-19 symptoms will got lung x-rays at a mobile unit at the event.
Those who test negative and have never been infected with the coronavirus received first shots of a Covid-19 vaccine. Antigen tests, however, have a 10-20-percent chance of returning a false negative.
The mayor said mobile testing units will be dispatched over the next two weeks to various Pattaya neighborhoods to continue the rapid-testing drive.
Sonthaya said the mobile units can test about 1,000 people a day.
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