BANGKOK, July 12 (TNA) – The National Health Security Office opened centers for rapid COVID-19 tests in Greater Bangkok today and test results can be known within 30 minutes.
NHSO secretary-general Jadet Thammathat-Aree said his office together with the Institute for Urban Disease Control and Prevention and Mahidol University opened the mass testing centers with a goal to test about 10,000 people altogether per day.
The centers used rapid antigen test kits which showed test results within 30 minutes. The people who tested positive would then enter home isolation or community isolation centers, Mr Jadet said.
The rapid antigen test centers stood at Thupatemi stadium of the air force in Lam Luk Ka district of Pathumi Thani province, Rajamangala National Stadium in Bang Kapi district of Bangkok and the fifth floor of the parking building of Building B at the government complex on Chaeng Watthana Road in Laksi district, Bangkok.
Their services started at 8am. The centers were set to serve 500 people each on the first day of operation to test their systems. Then they would raise the daily capacity to 3,000 people each, Dr Jadet said.
On July 14 another rapid test center would open at the football stadium of the Air Defense Artillery Division in Dusit district. It would serve 3,000 people a day, he said.
Today the Public Health Ministry reported 8,656 new COVID-19 cases and 80 new fatalities over the past 24 hours for the total cases of 316,164. (TNA)
