Thai hospitals short of beds as COVID cases soar: Ministry

Thai hospitals short of beds as COVID cases soar: Ministry

BANGKOK: Thailand's health ministry sounded the alarm over Bangkok's dire lack of hospital beds and isolation facilities yesterday as COVID-19 cases and deaths soared to a new record. The Southeast Asian country is struggling to contain its latest outbreak fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, with infections and deaths skyrocketing and the healthcare system stretched thin.

Despite the hardest-hit provinces being placed under severe restrictions and a nighttime curfew, Thailand yesterday registered a new single-day record of 17,669 cases and 165 deaths. "I am speaking frankly-we do not have enough beds in hospitals," said Somsak Akkasilp, the health ministry's director general of the Department of Medical Services, in an uncharacteristically candid press conference.

"In big hospitals, all (intensive care units) are overoccupied. They have 10 beds for ICU but they have to handle 12 ICU cases," he said, adding that medics were moving critical patients from the emergency room once the beds are vacated. Hospitals in the capital have the capacity to manage 1,000 new patients a day, but Somsak said they were well past that number-with 4,000 new cases recorded yesterday in Bangkok alone. While authorities are starting to recommend home isolation for milder cases, there are issues with supplying