Dr. Yong Poovorawan, head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, says that there is no need for a person who has recovered from COVID-19 infection to take a rapid antigen test.
In his Facebook post on Sunday, he said that he has been asked by some COVID patients why they still test positive for the virus, using a rapid antigen test kit, after they have recovered from the infection for more than five days. He explained that such a test is unnecessary after recovery, but they should monitor for symptoms and, if there are none, that is fine.
A member of the Thai Royal Academy, Dr. Yong explained that COVID-19 is still among us, but its symptoms are less severe because most Thai people have either been infected or have been vaccinated, adding that a person can get infected again, like people get infected with flu more than once.
He said that doctors these days treat COVID patients in accordance with their symptoms and their risk factors after they test positive. Only those who are regarded as vulnerable or at high-risk, such as people over 60 or those with heart or lung diseases, will be given anti-rival medication.
Anti-viral medication, such as Molnupiravir, is now less expensive than it was during the pandemic, but it is not recommended for pregnant women and those under 18, said Dr. Yong.
“To treat a patient, we do not look at the two red stripes on the rapid antigen test, but we observe the symptoms. After the treatment, it does not matter whether the test still shows two red stripes. The most important thing is that there are no symptoms,” he said.
