Thailand builds Covid-19 hospital in Bangkok's Don Mueang airport amid surge in cases

BANGKOK - Thai volunteers on Wednesday (July 28) turned a cargo warehouse at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport into a 1,800-bed field hospital for Covid-19 patients with less-severe symptoms, as the country deals with its biggest outbreak to date.

The South-east Asian nation reported a daily record of 16,533 new cases, plus 133 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total accumulated cases to 543,361 and 4,397 deaths.

Workers drilled walls for toilet installations and set up beds and blankets.

"This is a level 1+ field hospital where it can receive a large number of patients, who have less-severe symptoms," Dr Rienthong Nanna, director of Mongkutwattana Hospital, told Reuters.

"But if patients' conditions deteriorate, they will be moved to our other field hospital called Pitak Rachan (Protect the King) Field Hospital," he added.

Dr Rienthong, a retired major-general and an ultra-royalist leader, said the field hospital was not up and running yet, as more preparations were needed.

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The number of infections will continue to climb and more field hospitals will be needed, he added.

Dr Rienthong and volunteers held a small ceremony on the occasion of King Maha Vajiralongkorn's 69th birthday to unofficially inaugurate their third field hospital named "Tai Rom Prabaramee", which means "under the glory of His Majesty".

The spike in Covid-19 cases in the capital has put pressure on the city's health system, and the government has faced public criticism over a slow roll-out of vaccines.

Thailand aims to inoculate 50 million people by the end of the year, but so far only 5.6 per cent of its more than 66 million population are fully vaccinated, while 19.2 per cent have received at least one dose.