The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) reports that demand for rapid antigen test kits is soaring in the industrial sector, as more than 1,000 factories need to conduct COVID-19 tests on their workers to contain the spread of the virus.
FTI vice-chairman Kriengkrai Thiennukul said the FTI has more than 10,000 member factories and most of them want antigen test kits, adding that the demand from the factories is based on the federation’s latest survey across the country. The FTI has already sent 100,000 antigen test kits to factories.
He said demand is increasing because factory owners have adopted a strict approach, conducting COVID-19 tests as a requirement before workers can start their shifts. Some factories, which are concerned about contamination of their products, even use the test kits every day.
Mr. Kriengkrai said entrepreneurs are worried about new COVID-19 infection clusters in their factories stopping manufacturing and affecting their exports. The FTI is in talks with antigen test kit makers to buy more test equipment at lower prices than those under the government’s purchase plan. The test kits used in factories have a price range of 100-200 baht per item, which is cheaper than those sold to the general public at 350-450 baht per kit.
