Health personnel from provinces, new graduates may be drafted to Bangkok
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Health personnel from provinces, new graduates may be drafted to Bangkok

Search for more beds for Covid patients continues

A student gets a blood pressure check before receiving a Covid-19 vaccine at Ramkhamhaeng University on Wednesday. (Photo: Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A student gets a blood pressure check before receiving a Covid-19 vaccine at Ramkhamhaeng University on Wednesday. (Photo: Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration plans to use health personnel brought in from the provinces and new medical graduates to help care for the growing number of Covid-19 patients in the Bangkok area.

CCSA spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangson revealed the plan on Thursday.

She also said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was very concerned about the shortage of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients in Bangkok and adjoining provinces. 

The prime minister had instructed state agencies to help the capital and surrounding areas increase the number of beds available, particularly for patients in yellow and red groups with severe symptoms.

She said Thursday’ s meeting discussed mobilisation of personnel from all sectors - including soldiers, health officials in the provinces and new medical graduates - to help care for Covid-19 cases in Bangkok and vicinity.

Dr Apisamai said the meeting also discussed allowing infected people to choose home isolation instead of hospitalisation. No conclusion was reached. More information was needed. Several risk factors had to be taken into consideration, she said.

The meeting heard by teleconference from the Nakhon Pathom governor that the spread of the disease at abattoirs in the central province was caused by the movement of workers, many of them migrants.

Authorities in the province were integrating efforts to address the problem, the CCSA spokeswoman said. They would hold a meeting with local abattoir operators on Covid-19 control measures and find a place to set up a fourth field hospital in the province.

National Health Security Office secretary-general Jadet Thammathat-Aree said the capital and surrounding provinces saw a rise in infections of  2,000-3,000 cases a day. 

The NHSO  was coordinating with private hospitals to increase the number of beds available for Covid-19 patients in the Greater Bangkok area. He said the NHSO is covering medical expenses.

The Public Health Ministry was also looking for other ways to increase the number of available beds.

“On the issue of budget allocations for medical treatment, we have provided sufficient funds  but the number of patients is not dropping," Dr Jadet said.

"There are 2,000-3,000 more infected people each day, particularly in Bangkok and nearby. This is placing more pressure on the availability of hospital beds.

"Field hospitals and hospitels have been set up, but there are clusters of infections that increase the need for beds,’’ Dr Jadet said.

He expected about 1,000 more hospital beds could be made available.


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