Thailand Sends COVID-19 Patients Out Of Bangkok Due To Shortage Of Hospital Beds

Thailand Sends COVID-19 Patients Out of Bangkok Due to Shortage of Hospital Beds

The Thai government said on Tuesday that it had to start evacuating COVID-19 patients in Bangkok on temporary stay to their home regions due to the shortage of hospital beds in the capital

BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2021) The Thai government said on Tuesday that it had to start evacuating COVID-19 patients in Bangkok on temporary stay to their home regions due to the shortage of hospital beds in the capital.

"To reduce the demand for patient beds in Bangkok, the Ministry of Public Health, the National Health Security Office, and related agencies have joined hands in facilitating travel for COVID-19 patients wanting to return to their hometowns under the health protection plan to prevent the risk of spreading the virus," the government's Public Relations Department said.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told a briefing in Bangkok that the evacuation will be carried out on buses and trains duly equipped to transport COVID-19 patients. Should the need arise, the government will arrange for aerial transportation, he added.

"We will continue this service until we are back to the situation where every COVID-19 patient can get a hospital bed in Bangkok," the minister said.

The first evacuation train has already departed from Bangkok's central railroad station earlier in the day, carrying over 100 patients and fully equipped health workers to northeastern provinces. Ambulances are at seven stations on the route to transport the patients to local hospitals, which are not facing a shortage of beds, the minister said.

Thailand's cumulative toll of COVID-19 cases is close to 527,000 cases, including 4,264 deaths. Over 90% of all cases and 97% of deaths were recorded in the period from April 1, which the Thai health authorities pinned as the start of the third wave.