About 8,000 beds at hospitals, hospitels and field hospitals were prepared for Covid-19 cases in Greater Bangkok, Government House said on Thursday.
Of them, about 6,000 beds are at existing hospitals and hospitels, 450 at the hospitels run by the Department of Medical Services, 100 beds at the hospitels operated by Ramathibodi Hospital, 700 beds at the field hospitals of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in Bang Khunthian and Bang Bon districts, and 1,000 beds at the field hospital at Bangkok Arena in Nong Chok district.
The move supports the government's requirement that all Covid-19 patients be treated at hospitals and hospitels. Those waiting for hospital beds could contact the hotline number 1669.
Government House added that to effectively curb the spread, mobility must be reduced, risky places must be closed and crowded activities must be prohibited.
Without such measures, the Public Health Ministry predicted more than 20,000 new Covid-19 cases a day in one month.
The closure of risky entertainment places would cap the daily increment at 2,996 cases. If people avoid crowded activities and work from home in addition to the closure, the daily increment could be limited to 391 cases, Government House said.
It also confirmed that the Covid-19 vaccines the government was buying from AstraZeneca and Sinovac Biotech were efficient.
Meanwhile, deputy army spokesperson Col Sirichan Ngathong said the army had turned its reception building in Dusit district, Bangkok, into a field hospital with 86 beds. It planned to move patients with mild symptoms from Phramongkutklao Hospital to the new field hospital there, leaving it with empty beds for serious cases.
The army was also opening field hospitals at its barracks nationwide, including a 69-bed field hospital at Thanarat military camp in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Col Sirichan said.