Move FM Global News

BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand has opened an 1,800 bed field hospital for Covid patients in a cargo warehouse at Bangkok’s Don Muang Airport.

The airport hospital will treat Covid patients with less severe symptoms, as Thailand deals with its largest outbreak to date.

Thailand has reported a daily record of 16,533 new cases, plus 133 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total cases to 543,361 and 4,397 deaths.

“This is a level 1+ field hospital where it can receive a large number of patients who have less severe symptoms,” Rienthong Nanna, director of Mongkutwattana Hospital, told Reuters.

“But if patients’ conditions deteriorate, they will be moved to our other field hospital called Pitak Rachan Field Hospital,” he added.

The jump in COVID-19 cases in Bangkok has put pressure on the city’s health system. At the same time, the government has been criticized due to the slow administration of vaccines.

So far, Thailand has fully inoculated only 5.6 percent of its more than 66 million people, though 19.2 percent have received at least one dose.