Thai Red Cross steps up humanitarian aid to affected community, health workers
The Thai Red Cross Society has shifted in full swing, taking up direct actions in providing relief packages and humanitarian assistance to victims, medical personnel, hospital staff, administrative officials and volunteers who are on the front line in containing the spread of Covid-19 after more than 500 people were tested positive in Samut Sakhon province over the weekend, the society said.
Grisada Boonrach, director of the Thai Red Cross Chapters Administration Office, said all Red Cross officials in Samut Sakhon and adjacent provinces and districts were engaging in massive humanitarian efforts to help the local residents in the prime affected area and to monitor the possible spread of the virus in nearby districts.
“We are doing our part, which is humanitarian support to the brave men and women on the front line, risking their lives to contain the spread of the Covid-19,” Grisada said. “This is a major challenge for Thailand. But I believe if everybody does their part, we can get through this together,” Grisada added.
A vast majority of the 548 who had tested positive in Samut Sakhon were migrant workers. Grisada insisted that this was a humanitarian concern, and officials and the public should not be concerned about ethnicities or nationalities of the victims because the virus knows no boundary.
Grisada said the spike suggested the likelihood of finding more infections stemming from the shrimp market where a 67-year-old Thai woman became the first to be detected earlier this week. Eight other infections have been linked to her, including three family members and five market workers, according to reports.
Among the items that the Thai Red Cross Society distributed include 4,000 relief packages for desperate families in the locked down communities. “This is just the first round. More relief packages are on the ground,” Grisada said.
He expressed his appreciation to Chulalongkorn Hospital for their donation of 2,000 PPE outfits and 10,000 N95 protective masks for medical personnel on the ground in Samut Sakhon. The first round of 10,000 protective masks were donated by the Charoen Pokphand Foundation, he said.
The Thai Red Cross Society was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Bangkok. It is supervised by the Council of Ministers and expenses are borne by the government. The society’s president is appointed by HM the King upon advice and consent of the council of ministers. The current president is HM Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother who has held the position since August 12 1956.
