Prachuap Khiri Khan Hospital recently opened a molecular diagnostics laboratory capable of delivering Covid-19 detection results in 4-6 hours. The 5-million-baht funding for the lab was provided by Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Administration Organisation.
The lab’s opening on 5 May was jointly officiated by Deputy Governor Komsan Charoen-art and provincial Deputy Chief of Public Health Khomson Chaiyawan and was also attended by Prachuap Hospital Director Dr Supachai Suphaphreuk and staff. Located on the 3rd floor of the hospital’s 36th Anniversary Memorial Building, the lab can run a maximum of 180 test samples per day.
The service fee for the test is 2,000 baht for the general public including foreigners. For those who are suspected of having Covid-19 or who have just returned from a ‘high-risk’ place, the test will be conducted free of charge.
Dr Supachai stated that given the nature of the epidemic, infection screening and especially proactive screening is vital for curbing its spread. The lab’s real-time PCR molecular diagnostics is effective in determining infection, and once results are known, the confirmed patients can proceed to quarantine and receive the necessary treatment.
Prior to the lab’s opening, a total of 81 people in the province were suspected of having contracted the virus. Test samples from these suspected cases had to be sent to the medical science centre in Samut Songkhram, and as a result the treatment process was delayed.
The molecular diagnostics lab can help in the early detection of other dangerous diseases such as dengue fever and tuberculosis as well as help detect emerging diseases in the future.
More importantly, it helps medical personnel to work more efficiently. Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Administration Organisation president Throngkiat Lim Arunrak said his organisation had been focusing on public health measures including the prevention, control and treatment of communicable diseases.
Prachuap Hospital has reaffirmed its intention to improve the province’s health care system for the benefit of local residents. For more information about Covid-19 prevention measures in Prachuap Khiri Khan, please call 032-601060-4 ext. 208
By Hua Hin Today
