Health Security Office Will Seek Additional Budget for COVID-19 Patients

The National Health Security Office (NHSO) will seek an additional budget to help those affected by the third wave of COVID-19,because the number of COVID-19 patients in the country continues to rise.

NHSO secretary-general Dr.Jadej Thammatacharee said the NHSO board has agreed to seek 9.8 billion baht from the government, to pay COVID-19 expenses from April to September this year.

He said the office has spent around 600 million a month, but the figure will likely increase to 1.5–2 billion baht a month soon. The increase is mainly the result of new services for home-quarantined people, the extension of the symptom observation period, from 10 to 14 days, and more proactive screening.

Dr Jadej added that the NHSO had projected the daily number of virus cases at 750 from April to May and 200 from June to September. The number of COVID-19 patients entering state quarantine facilities is estimated at 15 per day or 52,600 in total.