Bangkok scrambles to test villagers at hotspots

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is arranging on-site COVID-19 testing in neighborhoods with a high number of new cases, however many people in certain at-risk neighborhoods said they still don’t have access to testing, even as testing provided by the Ministry of Labour and the vaccination drive in Khlong Toei continues.

 

Villagers in Baan Khing community in western Bangkok’s Bang Khae district are now asking City Hall and the district office to arrange on-site testing in their neighborhood, after several new cases of COVID-19 were recently identified here.

 

With a population of 1,200 across 280 households, some 150 people in this community have already tested positive for COVID-19, however people in close contact with these confirmed patients still don’t have access to testing, and are asked to self-isolate at home.

 

The neighborhood has become quiet, with villagers mostly staying in, and everyone now seen wearing a mask.

 

At the Thai-Japan Bangkok Youth Center in Din Daeng district, the Ministry of Labour has reopened its COVID-19 testing center for persons insured with Social Security. A queue of people has been waiting to get tested, while staying a meter apart as required.

 

People can make a test appointment here online, with the last appointments available on 11th May. The Social Security Office’s Spokesman Nantachai Panyasurarit, said today that appointments beyond 11th May could be allowed as the center is now making more than the usual number of test appointments, normally a daily average of 1,000-2,000 persons.

 

In Khlong Toei district, people continue to show up to get their first shots of COVID-19 vaccine at vaccination sites, including one at Tesco Lotus Rama IV supermarket.

 

All vaccine recipients must be temperature screened upon entry, then have their blood pressure, weight, and medical history taken before getting the vaccine. Afterwards, they are asked to sit down and wait for 30 minutes, during which they are monitored for possible adverse reactions.

 

Most people say they are hesitant about receiving Sinovac vaccine after reports of people exhibiting severe reactions after getting the jabs. Having not experienced such reactions themselves, many people here have now asked their family members to get the jabs.

 

The vaccination site at Tesco Lotus Rama IV aims to vaccinate 1,000 people daily throughout its 10-days of operation. The supermarket itself has provided food, drinking water, and high speed internet to facilitate the staff and vaccine recipients for all of the planned 10 days.

 

 

 

 

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-05-09

 

[hotchilli]

Covid now is in many locations, some not even being tested. The true numbers of infections are much higher than the recent daily 2,000+ figures.