Invest in tests to beat virus

Invest in tests to beat virus

A week after the Emergency Decree was invoked, Thailand imposed a curfew last night. These harsh measures alone will not help break the transmission chain of Covid-19 as the government has not moved to ramp up testing, prevention, treatment, or further quarantine measures.

Late last month, Bruce Aylward, a senior adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization, told the World Economic Forum that in order to break the transmission chain, governments must keep people under lockdown, chase down every single suspected case and treat and isolate those who test positive.

The Thai government must take this message seriously. It can no longer afford to respond to the outbreak like it's business as usual. For one thing, the curfew cannot be kept in place indefinitely. The Prayut Chan-o-cha government must set goals and associated time-frames if wants to achieve something from the curfew and the Emergency Decree.

A good thing about shutdowns in workplaces, educational institutions and in society is that they can really slow the infection rate, according to Mr Aylward. But Thailand's shutdown measures have still not been enforced effectively. Its closure of certain businesses in Greater Bangkok over the past few weeks actually has the potential to increase infections given that this forced workers to travel to the provinces on a large scale.

The same goes for the curfew between 10pm to 4am. As long as the government does not force all businesses and state agencies to adopt a work-from-home policy -- if possible -- and strictly enforce social distancing at the community level, the infection rate is unlikely to slow down. This can be seen by the fact that since the Emergency Decree was invoked, the number of infections has continued to surge.

The government should have set out the goals it wanted to achieve from the curfew and the decree. And the goals should include a decrease in transmission. This cannot be achieved without being more proactive and doing more testing of suspected cases -- something that Thailand has not done enough of.

As of yesterday, the Disease Control Department reported 22,453 people under investigation (PUI) since January who are eligible for testing and have been tested. The majority of them, 21,857, are those who self-reported their condition at hospitals and requested testing. Only 506 people were chosen due to airport screening. This demonstrates a lack of proactive testing as well as weak monitoring of suspected cases.

Thailand has also set too high a bar for testing. Only people with a combination of a fever and a cough or sore throat or those who have been in close contact with someone with Covid-19, or frequented places where infections have occurred are eligible for testing. Other countries, such as South Korea, allow testing for anyone with just a fever or cough.

Moreover, the government has not been able to tackle the scarcity of Covid-19 test kits and personal protective equipment (PPE), including face masks.

Limitations are also seen in treatment facilities. Currently, according to the WHO, there are about 300 ventilators and 1,000 beds available for use at hospitals in Greater Bangkok along with 1,000 beds reserved in other places such as hotels. In the provinces, there are reserves of 10,000 beds and 1,000 ventilators.

The imposition of the curfew and the Emergency Decree will be a waste as long as the government does not invest more in testing, prevention, treatment and quarantine.

Editorial

Bangkok Post editorial column

These editorials represent Bangkok Post thoughts about current issues and situations.

Email : anchaleek@bangkokpost.co.th

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