Thailand has defended its coronavirus testing procedure, saying it is effective even if the country adopts selective screening rather than focuses on the quantity of tests.
The clarification was made on Wednesday after critics cast doubts over the number of daily new cases which have remained low for two days, though the number increased to 111 on Wednesday due to a group of Thai-Muslim pilgrims returning from Indonesia in which 42 people were infected.
New cases dropped from over 100 to 51 on Monday and 38 on Tuesday. The test rate in Thailand currently stands at 1,079 cases per one million population while the infection rate is at 2.8% of people tested.
The rate of infection discovery is not different from South Korea despite the fact South Korea conducted many more tests, as high as 9,099 cases per one million population while its infection rate stood at 2.19%, said Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA). "The point is we've conducted selective screening, not sampling in order to conduct as many tests as we can," Dr Taweesilp said.
At present, the country is capable of testing up to 20,000 patients a day, he added. "Some people questioned whether we hide the number of infections. That is impossible. All activities are closely monitored by people on social media," he noted.
Still, Thiravat Hemachudha, head of the Health Science Centre of Emerging Diseases at Chulalongkorn Hospital, urged the government to aim for widespread screening. The number of tests should be increased to match South Korea's, Dr Thiravat said, citing a report from China that says 30% of people catching the virus do not show symptoms.
Dr Taweesilp said the government is aware of all concerns and has already begun active case-finding in Phuket in order to find more patients. Officials selected Bang Lan and Krathu areas on the island and tested more than 2,000 people a day. A result is they found 12 additional patients, Dr Taweesilp said. The method will be applied in targeted areas in Bangkok to better search for new infections after the number of patients in the capital showed a decreasing tread, according to the Disease Control Department.
Department chief Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said Bangkok has a decreasing number of infections, but further aggressive action is needed to find new infections. "What we are going to do is the same as we have done in Phuket. We will highlight the targeted areas that have a high number of infections, backed up by a surveillance system in which all people under the surveillance system whether they are healthy or sick must be tested for the deadly virus," he said, adding in Phuket over 1,500 people are under surveillance.
In the past three days, the number of new cases in Bangkok has decreased from 27 cases on Monday to 23 cases on Wednesday. There are 1,099 accumulated patients in the capital; however, its ratio of infections is second to Phuket province with 21.6 patients per 100,000 population. Phuket has 33.9 per 100,000.
Meanwhile, the CCSA on Wednesday expressed "grave concerns" about the risk of new infections from Thais returning from overseas after 42 out of 76 Thai-Muslim pilgrims arriving from Indonesia tested positive for the virus. The group was the largest new cluster for the deep South. As a result of this new cluster, Satun logged its first local cases as 15 returnees from Indonesia tested positive.
The CCSA reported 111 new Covid-19 cases and three more deaths, all foreigners, bringing the country's total infections to 2,369 and total death toll to 30. Dr Taweesin said the 111 confirmed new cases marked a sharp increase over the 38 recorded on Tuesday and stressed that surveillance on overseas arrivals must be stepped up. "More Thai people will be returning from abroad and we must monitor them closely. While we're stepping up surveillance, we must not impose a stigma on the returnees," Dr Taweesilp said.
The other new cases included 37 people who had been in close contact with a previous patient; four who worked in crowded areas or closely with foreigners; three were visitors to crowded places; two medical workers; and two people who returned to Thailand in March. Officials were investigating the other 21 cases.
One of the three fatalities was a 48-year-old Russian, who visited Phuket and developed symptoms as he was returning to Pattaya. He sought treatment at a private hospital in Chon Buri province, conducted home isolation and died on Sunday.
The second victim was a 69-year diabetic Indian businessman with heart disease. He fell sick on March 17 and sought treatment at a private hospital in Bangkok. He was admitted to a private hospital on March 29 and treated in an intensive care unit. He died on Tuesday. The third victim was a 69-year-old American who suffered from chronic kidney disease. He fell sick on March 9 with coughing, muscle pain and breathing difficulties, sought treatment at a hospital in Buri Ram province on March 21 and died on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich said the ministry was studying what arms procurement projects could be put on hold so the budget could be diverted to help in the fight against coronavirus.
