Isolation centres being set up in Bangkok to provide basic care to Covid-19 patients

To help reduce overcrowding in Bangkok hospitals, Thai authorities have decided to allow Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, or who are asymptomatic, to stay at home or at a community isolation centre rather than a hospital or field hospital. Public hospitals in the capital have been at capacity and Covid-19 cases are expected to continue to rise due to the emergence of the rapid-spreading Delta variant.

20 community isolation centres are opening in various districts in Bangkok to provide basic care for Covid-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. If their symptoms worsen, they will be sent to the hospital. The centres also provide care for those who are waiting for a hospital bed to become available, according to Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesperson Apisamai Srirangson.

“We don’t want patients at home for too long while waiting for beds. They must be brought into the system as quickly as possible… We also don’t want them moving to other areas so we need to set up community shelter facilities near their homes.”

Around 69 health service centres run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and 201 community health clinics affiliated with the National Health Security Office’s universal healthcare scheme will be overseeing home isolation.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post