About 100,000 Covid-19 patients have been transferred from Bangkok to provincial hospitals, the Public Health Ministry said.
Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, the ministry’s chief of inspectors, said many people have returned from the capital to their home provinces for treatment due to the lockdown order.
He stated that the exact number of patients transferred from Bangkok was 94,664, explaining that the hospital’s bed occupancy rate in the central and eastern regions had risen to 80%.
“At the national level, 156,189 beds or 73.49% of all hospital beds, excluding those in Bangkok, are already occupied,” he added.
But Dr. Thongchai claimed the situation was under control, as provincial hospitals still have 41,185 beds available, sufficient staff, and medical equipment right now.
Moreover, he stated that provincial hospitals planned to increase their number of beds while staff worked to turn community hospitals into specialized facilities to treat Covid-19 patients arriving from Bangkok.
People expecting to return to their hometown should first contact local health personnel to find out if local facilities can treat them, Dr. Thongchai told the public.
Meanwhile, health officials continue working to detect Covid-19 in risk groups across Bangkok.
On Friday morning, the Public Health Ministry reported that Thailand had logged all-time highs of 191 coronavirus-related fatalities and 21,379 new cases in the past 24 hours.
According to official figures, 20,895 new transmissions were detected among the general population and 484 among inmates.
The government also reported that 22,172 Covid-19 patients had recovered and were discharged from hospitals.
Friday’s figures increase the case toll to 714,684, with 685,821 detected during the third wave of the virus that started in April.
Thailand has reported 5,854 deaths since the pandemic began.
Bangkok recorded the highest number of deaths, with 100, while its surrounding provinces had 23. Samut Sakhon had nine, Nakhon Pathom eight, and Samut Prakan six.
The south reported 19 new deaths, the northeast 17, the north ten more fatalities, and the central plain provinces 22.
New infections included 20,885 local transmissions and ten imported cases.
