NHSO gears up for kit hand-outs

NHSO gears up for kit hand-outs

The National Health Security Office (NHSO) says it is ready to distribute free self-testing kits and antigen test kits (ATKs) for at-risk groups via the government's Pao Tang e-wallet app, expected to roll out around Sept 8-9.

The NHSO planned to first distribute 8.5 million kits to at-risk groups in the maximum control zones (red zones) across Bangkok, NHSO secretary-general Dr Jadej Thammatacharee said yesterday.

Dr Jadej said that smartphone users can access the Pao Tang app, carried by Krungthai Bank, before choosing "the Covid-19 test kit" option to get it for free.

If the app estimates the smartphone users are in an at-risk group, the app will notify the users to receive the ATKs at the marked area.

The service unit will give away two ATK kits at a time.

The users must repeat the test in the first five days after the first test.

The in-app Home-Isolation registration is also available for those who are found to have contracted Covid-19, Dr Jadej said.

Apart from the app, around 2 million ATKs will be distributed to 2,000 communities, with each community given 1,008 kits, in the red zones across Bangkok via the Health Centre of BMA's Health Department.

Dr Jadej said the centre will assign community leaders and public health volunteers to distribute the ATKs in communities.

Priority will be given to those aged 60 and over, the bedridden and those with underlying diseases.

The ATK distribution might be delivered via a courier service if the spread of virus keeps rising, Dr Jadej said.

For at-risk groups in other areas, the ATKs will be distributed via service units including pharmacies, medical clinics and nursing clinics which participate in the ATK distribution programme with a vendor-managed inventory system (VMI) of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO).

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