Phuket Island reported 21 new Covid-19 cases, raising the total cases to 161 as it has adopted the “active case finding” measure to screen patients with rapid testing.

Phuket governor, Pakkhapong Thawiphat presided over the meeting of the provincial communicable disease committee to follow up on the Covid-19 situation in this southern resort province on Thursday.

Twenty-one new cases were reported in the past 24 hours. Among all 115 patients being treated in hospitals, three cases are critically-ill.

The total recovery cases are 45 while 104 suspected cases are waiting for lab test results.

All of 21 new infections are Thais, screened under the proactive approach, implemented by the Public Health Ministry for at-risk groups, who had close contact with previous patients or who worked in crowded places or worked closely with foreigners.

With tools, provided by the private sector, the province can conduct a nasal swap to collect secretions of about 500 persons each day. The samples are sent to labs in Bangkok for coronavirus testing.

This is the best and effective way to screen for new cases and contain the spread of the virus, the governor said.

Meanwhile, the province also received 3,000 infrared human body temperature thermometers from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation for distribution to village heads and health volunteers, so they can conduct thermal scanning for villagers at homes.

Source: TNA