The Ministry of Public Health is perfectly within its rights to modify the status of Covid-19 and treatment schemes as the disease keeps evolving, but with the situation far from stable and the number of new cases and fatalities still rising, it must approach this challenge with due care.
Since the ministry has decided to take the bull by the horns and also try to ease the financial constraints caused by the ever-rising costs of treatments and services, the onus falls on it to do its job properly.
If the key issue is identifying which patients should be treated in which manner -- whether they need to be monitored at home, placed under community isolation, or hospitalised if they belong to high-risk groups -- first responder units must be strengthened to screen the patients, place them under appropriate care schemes and monitor them adequately.
However, it was worrying to see that the National Health Security Office (NHSO), which manages the 1330 hotline for those infected with Covid, was forced to issue a public apology this week to the many people who were unable to access its services due to high demand and understaffing.
Dr Jadet Thammathat-aree, the NHSO secretary-general, said the hotline was overwhelmed when 70,000 people tried to get through on Tuesday.
He admitted the number of callers, plus another 12,000 people who sought help via other channels such as Facebook and Line, was too much for the NHSO's frontline staff of 400 to handle.
It is not realistic to employ just 400 staff when the number of new cases, including those detected with antigen test kits, stands at almost 50,000 a day.
While Dr Jadet pledged to resolve the issue -- by recruiting and training more volunteers to handle the enquiries and screen patients -- he recommended people who test positive should try the social media channels of public health agencies in their provinces, or contact hospitals associated with their healthcare benefits.
Such a diversification strategy risks confusing people who are already sick and, presumably, worried. Keeping track of multiple channels is inconvenient, especially in times of distress. It can also lead to wasted resources, redundant screenings of patients and inconsistent standards.
It is already confusing enough for the public to understand the difference between the Out-Patient Department (OPD) scheme, where people who test positive are supposed to be given medicine to treat themselves, and the Home Isolation (HI) system, where they are supposed to receive a certain level of monitoring.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul plans to submit for cabinet consideration next week a new set of criteria for spending on emergency treatment for those infected with Covid under the so-called Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (Ucep) Plus.
He insisted there will no change to people's rights to treatment except that doctors will now make a diagnosis and decide how patients should be treated.
If that's all it boils down to, why is there is a "plus" in the Ucep scheme?
It is clear the public health authorities need to update their treatments and services in response to the changing nature of the pandemic -- which may or may not be endemic, at this point.
They must also be well-prepared for any future changes, especially from the perspective of those seeking help. Otherwise, congested phone lines and confusion will again be the order of the day.
