Bangkok runs out of ICU beds for Covid patients
Bangkok has run out of ICU beds to treat severely ill Covid-19 patients, the Department of Medical Services (DMS) announced on Monday.
Department chief Dr Somsak Ankasil admitted that all public hospital beds available for “red” category patients were now occupied.
He added that critically ill Covid-19 patients were now waiting for treatment in emergency rooms at the DMS’s Lerdsin Hospital and Nopparat Hospital.
Bangkok has a total of 36,977 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients.
However, there are currently 37,668 Covid cases in need of treatment or 691 more than the capacity.
Meanwhile, for “green” category (mild) cases, 1,021 beds are available at hospitels and 257 at field hospitals.
As Bangkok’s daily caseload surges beyond 2,000, scenes of Covid-19 patients lying in hospital corridors and even car parks have added to public alarm.
The bed shortage is being exacerbated by the need to have separate Intensive Care Unit facilities for Covid-19 patients so that infection does not spread to other severely ill patients.
Patients were being tested for Covid-19 before admission to ICUs, Somsak said. The most practical solution was to send those infected with coronavirus to a designated ward, he added.
Bangkok health officials have asked the Army to deploy medics to help cope with the tide of new Covid cases.
