The board of Thailand’s National Health Security Office (NHSO) has approved a proposal to seek 51.1 billion baht in funding from the government’s one trillion baht Loan Executive Decree to cover medical expenses, including expenses for COVID-19 screening and treatment, from last December until the end of this September.

According to NHSO Secretary-General Dr. Jadet Thammathat-Aree, the proposed 51.1 billion baht funding requirement until end of September is based on a projection that the severity of COVID-19 infections, mostly caused by the Omicron variant, will reduce steadily and medical costs, which include antigen screening, RT-PCR and gene tests, treatment costs for patients and of side effects from vaccination, will also fall accordingly.

The proposed funding will be split into about 34.5 billion baht for last December until end of February and 16.5 billion baht for March until the end of September.

Dr. Jadet said that the proposed budget for the next seven months will be 1.7 billion baht less than originally projected, as the NHSO has revised down COVID-19 screening costs and room rates for treatment in hospitals and for isolation in “hospitels”.