Chulalongkorn Hospital is running low on N95 masks for its medical personnel at a time when novel coronavirus cases are rising, according to hospital director Suttipong Wacharasindhud.
Due to the shortage of N95 masks over the past three months, the hospital has been trying to find the masks from all possible sources, but it still does not have enough, he said.
The hospital has enough masks to last only another two weeks, he said, adding that all wards and units have been told to strictly comply with the hospital's instructions on the use of the masks. The news comes after recent reports that certain people had been hoarding the masks and in some cases even exporting large consignments overseas.
Meanwhile, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers have arrested a suspected fraudster for luring people into placing orders for face masks and sanitising gel that were never delivered.
Thirawuth Suksawat, 27, was arrested in Ratchaburi's Ban Pong district on Friday, police said yesterday.
The suspect is also wanted on an arrest warrant issued on April 21 last year in Nakhon Si Thammarat province in connection to other fraud cases, CSD chief Pol Maj Gen Jiraphob Puridet said.
Pol Maj Gen Jiraphob said CSD had received complaints that the suspect sold the products via social media platforms and used other people's photographs to hide his true identity.
Buyers transferred money into his account only to find the masks were not delivered.
The suspect has swindled people out of more than 200,000 baht, the CSD chief said, adding CSD officers will hand the suspect over to Thung Song police for legal prosecution.