Elderly woman near Bangkok dies of Covid-19 after request declined

An elderly woman near Bangkok has died of Covid-19 after a hospital allegedly declined her family’s request for an ambulance. The incident happened in Nonthaburi, a province bordering Bangkok. A foundation that tried to help the 82 year old woman said that she had several health other conditions as well. These included diabetes, high blood pressure, and chronic kidney disease among others.

The woman found out she had Covid on July 10, although she was asymptomatic. Her family did not have a car, and the woman was bedridden, so they contacted a hospital and asked for an ambulance to pick her up, in line with her entitlement. But the hospital refused to send an ambulance, saying that the family needed to take her to the hospital themselves.

The family then sought help from the Zendai Foundation, which has helped send medications to people who could not get access to them in hospitals. The foundation immediately sent the Molnupiravir medication to the woman. But on Friday (July 15), the foundation announced in a Facebook post that the woman had died.

This news comes as Thailand is seeing a so-called “mini wave” of coronavirus infections. While there have been reports of around 2,000 cases being reported every day, some doctors have claimed that the actual number of current infections is more like 20,000 to 30,000 per day. The 82 year old woman in Nonthaburi is just one victim tragically taken by the new Covid mini wave.

The World Health Organisation warned last week that the Covid pandemic is far from finished. Subvarients of Omicron like BA.4 and BA.5 have emerged and spread the once-waning virus.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World