Thailand: Food factory converted into quarantine facility in Samut Sakhon

Thailand has for the first time put into operation a COVID-19 quarantine facility which was converted from a factory of the Pattaya Food Group.

A medical worker collects sample for COVID-19 testing in Samut Sakhon province of Thailand (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand has for the first time put into operation aCOVID-19 quarantine facility which was converted from a factory of the PattayaFood Group.

According to the government’s COVID-19 task force, the factory, which was usedto manufacture canned foods under the Nautilus brand,  is now a 600-patient bed quarantine facility.It is divided into three zones: a green zone is the reception area, a yellowzone is where medical professionals are stationed and where they will changetheir clothes, and a red zone will house infected persons.

Thai health authorities will speed up COVID-19 tests for more than 35,000workers at 400 factories in Samut Sakhon by January 24. Samut Sakhon houses alarge number of plants and migrant workers, most of whom come from Myanmar.

Provincial chief public health officer Naretrit Khatthasima said the province'sefforts are being bolstered by medical teams from across the country who havebeen sent to work there, adding the outbreak in Samut Sakhon has been containedas a result of active case finding and proactive screening in the province.

Deputy governor Surasak Pholyangsong said the province is scheduled to open itsfourth field hospital in tambon Nadee on January 15.

He said the facility, which is formally known as Samut Sakhon's care centre,has 350 beds to accommodate COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms.

To date, the outbreak in Samut Sakhon has spread to more than 50 provinces andcities across the nation.

The Southeast Asian country documented 271 new COVID-19 infections on January14, bringing its total COVID-19 cases to 11,262. Sixty-nine people died of thenovel coronavirus./.
VNA

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