11 July 2024

Thailand’s Ministry of Defence has made available ten areas in Bangkok for the setting up of field hospitals, with a combined capacity of up to 3,000 patients, in case COVID-19 infections overwhelm existing hospitals.

Lt-Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich, spokesman for the ministry, said today (Friday) that, in addition to the field hospitals, the military has also prepared medical personnel and equipment to take care of the patients.

Meanwhile, both the Rajavithi and Ramathibodi hospitals have separately announced the limitation of non-urgent medical services and are urging patients, who are not urgently in need of treatment, to postpone their visits, after some of their staff contracted COVID-19 and several others, who were in close contact with them, were quarantined.

The Rajavithi Hospital said yesterday that ten more staffers had contracted the virus, resulting in several of their colleagues being placed in isolation for observation.

On the same day, Ramathibodi Hospital said that five medical personnel had contracted COVID-19 outside the hospital. It assured that the disease has not spread within the hospital, but some non-urgent services have been suspended, due to the resulting staff shortage.