More than 500 Covid patients try to escape field hospital in Phetchaburi

Hundreds of Covid-19 patients at a packed field hospital set up at a Phetchaburi factory attempted to escape during a power outage due to the hot and crowded conditions. A field hospital was set up following an outbreak at the factory in the province’s Khao Yao district, about 100 kilometres southwest of Bangkok.

A source told Nation Thailand that the power cut out yesterday evening and more than 500 patients tried to leave the field hospital.

“At around 6pm, there was an electrical malfunction at the hospital, as a result electric fans stopped working… About 500 patients were upset due to the hot and crowded conditions and tried to escape from the building.”

More than 50 police officers were called to the factory as well as soldiers from the Military Province 15 and public health staff dressed in disease protection gear. As of this morning, the situation was still “unresolved,” according to Nation Thailand.

Field hospitals in Thailand are typically for Covid patients with mild to no symptoms. Most have beds made from cardboard, with dozens of patients in one area. The field hospital at the Cal-Comp Electronics Thailand factory was set up after 682 workers, many of them Burmese migrants, tested positive for the virus. Following the outbreak, space at the factory was converted into kitchens to provided meals for quarantined workers while another space at the building was converted into a field hospital. Thailand

Factory space has been converted into kitchens to provide 3 meals daily to all quarantined employees, and another building on the grounds has been repurposed as a makeshift field hospital.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand