More than 11,000 people infected with Covid-19 in Vientiane Capital have elected to undergo self-treatment at home, according to the National Taskforce.
Deputy Director of the Department of Infectious Disease Control, under the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sisavath Southanilaxay, said on Sunday that over 200 people call the self-care Covid-19 hotline 164 each day for advice.
“Having people with asymptomatic infections or minor cases of Covid-19 undertake self-care at home helps reduce the strain on hospitals, with medical personnel able to devote more time to those with moderate to severe infections, ” said Dr. Sisavath.
The country has seen 113,951 total cases of the Coronavirus across Laos, with 99 percent of cases being caused by community spread, according to Director-General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Dr. Lattanaxay Phetsouvanh.
He said that the use of rapid test kits for self-testing at home has now become common practice, with many who test positive hesitant to receive a PCR test at an authorized testing center.
This has lead to the official caseload appearing lower than the actual number of cases, according to Dr. Lattanaxay.
“Despite the fact that the number of Covid infections reported has decreased, the number of sample testing has also fallen, with certain provinces in Laos reporting more than 50% infected of sample tests,” he said.
“We will have to keep a close eye on the situation after the celebration of International New Year 2022, as there will likely be a rise in the number of Covid-19 infections recorded in the coming weeks,” Dr. Lattanaxay added.
He said that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has still not been detected among infections in Laos.
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