New locally produced Covid-19 test kits to be distributed soon
Siam Bioscience has joined hands with the Department of Medical Science to develop a new test kit for detecting Covid-19, and the first lot of 20,000 kits was delivered to Government House today (April 2).
Each locally produced test kit costs around Bt1,500, while imported ones go for about Bt4,500 each.
The collaboration aims to produce 20,000 test kits every week, and when 100,000 have been produced, they will be distributed among 100 hospitals nationwide.
Meanwhile, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation on Wednesday (April 1) approved the urgent purchase of 400,000 N95 masks and the same number of personal protection suits from China. A budget of Bt660 million has been earmarked for the purchase.
China will send 150,000 sets by air within this week and will ship 250,000 sets in a few weeks.
