SAMUT PRAKAN: Two Thai health workers zip up their protective suits, put on masks and face shields, and slowly climb aboard a small boat waiting in the reeds on the banks of a countryside canal.
This is the best way to ensure remote communities in Samut Prakan, a province on the fringes of the capital Bangkok, get some access to checkups as the country struggles to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The workers navigate these small canals daily, carrying out checks on communities and nose and throat swab tests on the Covid-19 patients who are isolating themselves, in an already isolated village.
This is the best way to ensure remote communities in Samut Prakan, a province on the fringes of the capital Bangkok, get some access to checkups as the country struggles to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The workers navigate these small canals daily, carrying out checks on communities and nose and throat swab tests on the Covid-19 patients who are isolating themselves, in an already isolated village.
Covid-19 testing in Thailand’s remote communities. (Photo Credit: Reuters)
“Some areas of the village can’t be accessed by land, so we need to travel by boat or raft to check on Covid-19 patients,” said public health officer Charoenrat Chaibut.
About 10% of the 60 households in the village…
