Thai authorities have requisitioned a warehouse at a Bangkok airport to set up a field hospital, as the country records its highest rates of Sars-CoV-2 infection
Thai volunteers on Wednesday transformed a cargo warehouse located in Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport into a 1,800-bed field hospital to accommodate people with less severe forms of Covid-19, while the country has been affected since the beginning April with its strongest outbreak to date.
Thailand on Thursday reported 17,669 new cases of Sars-CoV-2 infection and 165 new deaths, a record figure for the kingdom which brings the total number of infections to 532,167 and that of deaths to 4,468 since April.
Workers pierced walls to install toilets and put up beds and blankets.
“This is a level 1+ field hospital that can accommodate large numbers of patients with less severe symptoms“Rienthong Nanna, director of Mongkutwattana hospital, known for its extreme positions in defense of royalty against pro-democracy protesters, told Reuters.
“But if the patients’ condition deteriorates, they will be transferred to our other field hospital, Pitak Rachan (Protect the King) Field Hospital.“, he said, specifying that the field hospital was not yet operational because additional preparations were necessary.
The number of infections will continue to rise and more field hospitals will be needed, he added.
This retired general and leader of an ultra-royalist group organized with volunteers on Wednesday a small ceremony on the occasion of the 69th birthday of King Maha Vajiralongkorn to unofficially inaugurate their third named field hospital “Tai Rom Prabaramee“which means”Under the glory of His Majesty“.
Bangkok city officials said on Tuesday they were planning to convert 15 disused train cars into a 240-bed isolation ward for patients with mild symptoms of Covid-19.
The government earlier this month authorized the repatriation of provincials who fell ill with Covid-19 to Bangkok in their province of origin, as well as isolation at home or in the community with remote medical monitoring for asymptomatic cases or milder forms of the disease.
The surge in Covid-19 cases in the Thai capital is putting pressure on the local health system as the government comes under heavy criticism for its handling of the epidemic as well as the slow deployment of vaccines. This in an economic context unprecedented since the great financial crisis of 1997-98, with thousands of bankrupt companies and millions of people pushed into precariousness.
Thailand, which aims to vaccinate 50 million people by the end of the year, or 70% of its population, has so far fully vaccinated just under 6% of its nearly 70 million inhabitants. while 19.2% received at least one dose.
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