Source: Channel News Asia | Editor: SS Kurniawan
KONTAN.CO.ID – BANGKOK. Thailand reported a new daily record of COVID-19 cases, recording 14,575 infections on Friday (23/7), which overwhelmed hospitals to accept patients exposed to the corona virus.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Cha-o-cha has demanded officials find a way to take the sick to hospitals after many COVID-19 patients were found dead on the streets of Bangkok.
“Most importantly, we have to think about what we can do to reduce the number of infected people waiting for ambulances at home or on the streets,” Prayut said, Thursday (22/7), quoted Channel News Asia.
“This image (of death) should never be seen again. This is the responsibility of every agency, not only the Ministry of Health. Several institutions involved need to find a way to bring this patient to the field hospital,” he said.
The number of people found dead on roads and homes from COVID-19 in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, is increasing every day, according to a charity official who helped pick them up.
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Somboon Kwan-on, Head of the Disaster Management Unit of the Poh Teck Tung Foundation, said in a telephone interview, his team could carry eight to 10 people who died from Covid-19 found on the road per day.
Thailand is treating and isolating anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus in hospital, straining the number of beds available.
Nearly 4,000 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units (ICUs) as of Friday, including 900 on ventilators, Apisamai Srirangsan, deputy spokesman for Thailand’s COVID-19 Treatment Center revealed.
While more than 20,000 people in the Bangkok area are waiting at COVID-19 treatment centers, that does not include the more than 2,500 people who are self-isolating at home or in the community.
In Bangkok alone, there are 70 people who are still waiting to receive treatment at the hospital in critical condition.
