Provincial hospitals will treat Covid-19 patients from Bangkok

Following a massive spike in phone calls, which overwhelmed Thailand’s national Covid-19 hotline, hospitals in 14 provinces near Bangkok will treat patients from there. Many of the calls overwhelming the hotline were from Bangkok patients. The Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary said the ministry will open acute respiratory infection clinics in the hospitals, which will offer people treatment if they have trouble accessing hotline services. He said anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 can walk into any ARI clinic, including those run by the Department of Disease Control, and the Department of Mental Health.

The highest number of calls to Thailand’s National Health Security Office, 70,300, came on Tuesday. On Wednesday there were 59,614 calls. The NHSO said out of 59,614 calls, only 29,688 were able to contact officers for help. The Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary said the spike in calls prompted the ministry to offer all hospitals under its responsibility to serve outpatients based on the self isolation system.

“We have been concerned because there are around 50,000 pending cases waiting to access our outpatient self-isolation service in the capital”.

The permanent secretary said the ministry hopes the situation will improve in Bangkok within two weeks. The services for patients from Bangkok in the ARI clinics start today.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post