All images courtesy of The Nation Thailand/Asian News Network
BANGKOK, Nov 7 (The Nation Thailand/Asian News Network: Thailand has developed its first rapid test for Covid-19 that provides results within a day, boosting the country’s fight against the disease.
Developed by the Medical Sciences Department, the new tests could cost as little as Bt100 each once commercially produced, compared to Bt300-Bt500 for imported versions.
The Thai-made rapid test kits use the immunoaffinity method to read serum samples from plasma and blood from the fingertips, explained Supakit Sirilak, department acting director-general.Once approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the test kits will be used by clinicians to screen people who have had symptoms for more than 15 days.
Produced in conjunction with Siam BioScience, they use the real-time RT PCR technique, recognised by the World Health Organisation.
Currently, 236 Covid-19 laboratories nationwide are checking more than 20,000 samples per day – 10,000 daily in Bangkok alone.
The new test kit is more than 90 per cent accurate, with FDA approval expected to take about one month.
The department has a production capacity of 3,000 tests per week but is ready to transfer the technology to commercial producers.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12 new Covid-19 cases, including one domestic case, over a 24-hour period on Saturday (Nov 7).
The domestic case was found in Krabi province. He was an Indian male, 37, who worked as a restaurant staff in the province.
The Indian man was reportedly found infected when he went for a health checkup for his work permit. He lived in Thailand, and had not move to other areas.
Later, Krabi Hospital said that his second and third tests were negative.
However, the hospital will quarantine him and test him again.
Nine patients were found in state quarantine and two patients were sent back to Myanmar. The patients in state quarantine included two each from France and the US and one each from the United Arab Emirates, India, Mexico, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Most of the patients were foreigners. Four of the new cases were Thai nationals coming from the UAE, the US and Switzerland.The two people sent back to Myanmar were drivers aged 29 and 45.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 3,830 (875 in state quarantine), of whom 126 are in hospital and 3,644 have recovered. The death toll has risen to 60.
As of Saturday morning, the number of confirmed cases globally according to Worldometer had increased to 49.65 million. Of them, 35.25 million have recovered, while 14.4 million are active cases (90,806 in severe condition) and 1.24 million have died (with 9,082 new deaths).T
hailand ranks 149th among countries with most cases. US still has the most cases with 10.05 million, followed by India 8.46 million, Brazil 5.63 million, Russia 1.73 million and France 1.66 million. - The Nation Thailand/Asian News Network
