People wear face masks at a shopping centre in Thailand (Photo: VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai Government is makingpreparations to cope with a third-stage outbreak of COVID-19 which wouldinclude a countrywide lockdown, according to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
He said on March 18 that Thailand remains at acontrollable stage, but he had already ordered preparations be made to copewith a third stage should it eventuate.
Meanwhile, the country’s army began sprayingroads in Bangkok with disinfectant on March 19 morning to combat the spread ofthe SARS-Cov-2. The daily cleaning is carried out from 1am to 5am until the endof March.
Also on March 18, the Thai Ministry of PublicHealth said 400 beds will be ready in Bangkok hospitals by this week.
Dr Somsak Akhasilp, director-general of theministry’s Department of Medical Services, called on the public not to worryabout a shortage of hospital beds to accommodate virus victims.
He said thanks to strong medical resourcesmanagement, there will be enough beds and sufficient medical treatment for allpatients if the outbreak reaches crisis level.
According to the ministry, "crisislevel" would be reached when the number of COVID-19 cases admitted tohospitals exceeds 1,000 per day. Resources would be sufficient to deal with a"critical-level" outbreak, including the provision of an extra 4,000beds for infected patients.
Thai authorities are working to find space atsports stadiums, apartments and hotels where convalescing patients can be caredfor.
Thailand confirmed 35 additional cases ofCOVID-19 on March 18, raising the total there to 212, including one death./.
VNA
