Phuket Covid-19: hospital beds and occupants jumped this week

One new death from Covid-19 was reported in Phuket last night, along with a new Sandbox infection and another arrival from abroad that was not part of the Sandbox and 195 daily infections. September has seen 55 deaths, bringing the total to 75. Among Phuket Sandbox travellers, 116 infections have now been uncovered as well as 26 infections from abroad that were not part of the Sandbox.

Since last week, data released showed that available hospital beds in Phuket nearly tripled in one day, while the number of occupied beds doubled at the same time. On September 27, data from the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office showed 2,021 occupied beds out of 2,471 total beds. Then the next day, total hospital beds jumped 4,019 to a total of 6,490 beds while at the same time, occupied beds jumped 1,999 to a total of 4,020 hospitalised patients.

No explanation was readily available for the huge jump. The day before the huge increase, Covid-19 Care Centres saw a sharp 25% increase with 472 people being admitted to centres in one day, jumping from 1,507 to 1,979 patients.

The death toll stood at 20 as this month began, and has now reached 75, meaning that there have been nearly triple as many deaths this month as the combined total from April to the end of August. The past 7 days have had an average of 2 deaths per day, down from last week, indicating deaths are slowing a bit.

Breakdowns of Phuket data from the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office report late last night, all collected since the start of the third wave of Covid-19 on April 3, are included below by the numbers.

TOTALS

ANTIGEN TEST KITS

Today 52 people tested positive in Phuket for Covid-19 using an antigen test kit.

People test with ATKs when they are at risk, but the results are not considered 100% conclusive. If someone tests positive, they will undergo an RT-PCR test to confirm the result. The case will only be added to the official numbers after that RT-PCR test is returned positive. Those in Phuket with a positive result from an ATK are moved to a Covid-19 Care Centre for safety as they await the results of an RT-PCR test.

HOSPITALS & SUPERVISION

ADDITIONAL COVID-19 INFECTIONS IN PHUKET

The official totals announced each day do not include several demographics:

• 116: Phuket Sandbox travellers who tested positive for Covid-19 sometime after landing in Phuket, up 1 from yesterday
• 42: Phuket natives infected in other provinces but moved for treatment under the “Bring Phuket People Home” programme, unchanged from yesterday
• 26: Travellers returning home from other countries and found to be infected, up 1 from yesterday
• 10: people in Phuket who were infected in other provinces, unchanged from yesterday

DAILY CASES THIS MONTH

SOURCE: The Phuket New