Positive Tests | Hospital and Hotel Quarantine Options

[Steve]

No VIP isolation beds at field hospitals, better facilities through health insurance























































When it comes to a stay at a Thailand field hospital, there’s no VIP section, according to the country’s Public Health Minister. For some who are not eligible for home isolation, it’s either a field hospital, where the stay is free, but the beds are made of cardboard, or a hospital, which can be expensive.

Along with cardboard beds, some field hospitals are in facilities like gymnasiums where there are no windows or central air conditioning. Photos posted by the government show a fan by each bed along with a pack of water bottles.

One person told The Thaiger that the conditions at a field hospital were so bad, that they immediately asked what another option would be. The next option was a hospital at 1,500 baht per night. They said it was better than sleeping in on a cardboard bed in a hall with no windows and poor ventilation.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul says every patient will be treated equally according to their symptoms and reiterated that there are no special beds that can be requested at field hospitals.

He urged home isolation and community quarantine to be the main treatment processes for patients with mild symptoms. Patients also have the right to use their personal health insurance for better rooms and facilities. But for expats without health insurance, you’ll have to pay up for a quality room.

[Steve]

Another 300 hotel quarantine rooms set aside for infected tourists in Phuket

As Covid-19 infections continue to rise in Phuket, the southern island is creating more self-isolation facilities for infected foreign tourists. According to a Nation Thailand report, cases are surging on the island, with new infection numbers rising from 238 last Wednesday to 742 on Sunday.

Most infections are cases of local transmission, but infections are being reported in sandbox tourists and those arriving through the now-suspended Test & Go system too. Around 1% of foreign tourists are testing positive on arrival, while 4% are found to be infected after the second test.

Meanwhile, the Phuket Tourism Association says a number of foreign tourists have to wait for insurance claims or alternative quarantine accommodation after receiving a positive test, adding that many don’t have the funds to do so.

The PTA says that in order to help infected foreign visitors, it has created the Travellers Communication Isolation centre. As part of this, Phuket will today open 300 isolation rooms at 3 hotels on the island. Nation Thailand reports that Phuket’s Communicable Disease Committee has already told Phuket hotels to set aside 5% of their rooms as isolation accommodation for guests who test positive for the virus.

Despite the rise in infections, Phuket remains popular as a tourist destination, with the PTA saying the island is currently receiving over 4,000 applications a day through the Thailand Pass system. Most visitors are from Germany, Russia, the UK, US, and France.

[Steve]

Royal Thai Navy reopens its three hospitals in response to Covid spike

The Royal Thai Navy reopened three of its field hospitals, including two in Chon Buri, that can house 1,109 patients following the recent influx of new Covid-19 cases, according to Navy Chief Admiral Somprasong Nilsamai on Monday. Today, Chon Buri ranks as the province with the highest number of new Covid-19 infections.

Under the provincial public health offices in command, the first hospital, with 544 beds, is located under the Air and Coastal Defence Command in Chon Buri’s Sattahip. Another field hospital in the same district has 180 beds. The third, with 385 beds, is located in the 16th Navy Training Field in Chanthaburi’s Ban Chanthaklem hamlet.

These three hospitals first opened early last year to deal with a spike in Delta variant infections, but they were temporarily shut down after infection rates dropped. The Navy head also stated that the Somdet Phra Pinklao Hospital in Bangkok’s Thon Buri district and the Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital in Sattahip had been advised to prepare for a surge of Coivd-19 patients.

Two of these navy general hospitals are capable of conducting laboratory testing and are equipped with intensive care units and negative-pressure rooms for serious patients, with the Covid-19 emergency center to provide isolation centres with a total capacity of 2,335 beds to care for navy sailors and their families with asymptomatic and mild Covid-19 symptoms.

[Sundance2020]

5 criteria set for hospitalising Covid-19 patients in Bangkok



In Bangkok, officials are attempting to take some of the guesswork out of dealing with Covid-19 infected patients while also streamlining the process when someone tests positive for the virus. New guidelines were set forth to assess the level of symptoms and infection and route people either to a hospital or other medical facility or refer them to home isolation. The plan comes as Covid-19 surges in the capital and authorities set up a new testing centre to handing the swell in infections.

The guidelines were approved today by the Subcommittee for Resolving the Covid-19 Situation in Bangkok in the hopes that this would allow those who are infected with Covid-19 to be moved to an appropriate location and treated for their symptoms immediately.

The new guidelines established 5 criteria and if a patient meets one or more, they will be admitted to a Bangkok hospital for Covid-19 treatment. Someone who doesn’t meet these parameters would be considered to have mild symptoms, or perhaps be asymptomatic, and would be referred to home isolation where medicine will be delivered by health personnel within 24 hours rather than being relegated to a field hospital or other potentially unpleasant arrangement.

On the other hand, anyone who meets one or more of these 5 criteria after testing positive for Covid-19 in Bangkok should be moved into an appropriate medical facility within no longer than 12 hours from diagnosis. The 5 criteria are as follows:

1. Anyone with a fever that stays above 39 degrees Celsius for more than 24 hours.
2. Anyone with less than a 94% oxygen saturation value.
3. Any adult who is inhaling faster than 25 breathes per minute.
4. Anyone Covid-19 positive in Bangkok who fits into the now-standard definition of high risk:
   1. Those who are over 60 years old.
   2. Women who are 12 weeks or more pregnant.
   3. Those who have one of the 7 underlying diseases flagged as high risk.
5. Children who have difficulty breathing or experience rapid breathing, loss of appetite, drowsiness, as well as a fever over 39 degrees Celsius and an oxygen saturation value under 94%.

[Virus]

Pattaya discusses “hotel isolation” for Test & Go, Sandbox travellers with Covid-19

After hundreds of horror stories of foreign tourists being required to stay in a quarantine hotels around Thailand after testing positive for Covid-19, officials in Pattaya discussed a so-called “hotel isolation” to allow travellers to continue staying at their hotel or resort if they test positive for the virus and have mild or no symptoms.

The idea is not to force travellers into sleeping on a cardboard bed at a field hospital or to transfer to a “hospitel,” or quarantine hotel… which, according to a reporter who stayed in a Phuket hospitel, it was more like an “Asian Hotel California” with beer-fuelled, late-night parties.

Under both the Test & Go quarantine exemption scheme, travellers must book stays at SHA Extra+ hotels on Day 1 and again on Day 5 to undergo RT-PCR tests. The hotels can be in different provinces, as long as they are approved for the entry programme. The SHA Extra+ certification means a hotel meets standards set by the Safety and Health Administration and partners with a local hospital to handle positive Covid-19 cases among travellers.

The director of Chon Buri Tourism and Sports, Ampai Sakdanukulchit Sliwinski, led a meeting held at Pattaya City Hall to discuss preparations for the anticipated influx of travellers after Test & Go registrations reopens on February 1. Ampai says that 5% of the hotel rooms at SHA Extra+ hotel will be designated for hotel room isolation, allowing travellers who test positive for Covid-19 to continue to stay at the hotel rather than checking into a quarantine hotel or private hospital. She says the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration must approve the plan.

Here’s what the tourism director told the Pattaya News…

“We are seeking the best way to assist international tourists who arrive in Pattaya and Chon Buri area if their Covid-19 test was positive with mild or asymptomatic symptoms. We understand one of the biggest “fears” of tourists is testing positive and potentially being forced into places (hospitals, quarantine centres, etc) that they don’t wish to go to, especially being fully vaccinated and having mild symptoms or less. Our goal is that if a traveller is positive for Covid-19 and mild or asymptomatic they are given every opportunity to stay in the hotel room of their choice versus being forced to hospitals or quarantine centres.”

[Sundance2020]

Anutin says removal of Covid-19 from emergency treatment list to go ahead



Despite calls to delay removing Covid-19 treatment from the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients scheme, Thailand’s health minister is pushing ahead. According to a Bangkok Post report, Anutin Charnvirakul says the move will go ahead as planned as it’s part of the government’s policy to downgrade the virus. He was responding to calls from a number of quarters, including his deputy, Sathit Pitutecha, who asked him to postpone the removal of Covid-19from March 1 until April. Sathit has expressed concern about the surge in infections in recent days.

The UCEP scheme currently allows Covid patients to be treated for free at any hospital for 3 days, before being transferred to the hospital they’re registered at under their welfare scheme. However, from March 1, Covid-19 will no longer be classified as one of the conditions covered by the scheme. Patients who test positive for the virus but who are not critically ill will only be able to have treatment covered at the hospital where they’re registered. Only patients who develop a critical, secondary infection as a result of Covid-19 will have treatment covered by the UCEP.

Anutin has rejected suggestions that the change in policy will negatively affect Covid patients and says it’s in line with a government policy of downgrading the virus from pandemic to endemic status. He says his ministry plans to declare Covid-19 endemic by the end of the year.

Yesterday, Thailand reported 14,900 new cases and 26 Covid deaths. New infections have surged past the 10,000 a day mark since earlier this month. However, the CCSA predicts that overall cases will begin to level off and start dropping this week.

[Steve]

Bangkok officials set up another 1,000 isolation beds amid surge in infections

As Covid-19 infection numbers surge in Bangkok, officials have set up another 1,000 beds in isolation facilities across the capital. According to a Bangkok Post report, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has instructed all 50 district offices to create more community isolation facilities. Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang says the additional isolation facilities will help ease the burden on hospitals and the healthcare system. Covid-19 patients who are asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms can be treated at the centres, keeping hospital beds free for the seriously ill.

According to Aswin, the 1,000 extra beds are in addition to 13 community isolation centres already operating across Bangkok. He was speaking to the Bangkok Post as he inspected an isolation centre in the Klong Toey district. At that facility, 400 of the 500 beds were already occupied. The governor says around 45% of Bangkok’s 3,500 beds are now occupied, but says there are no seriously ill patients going without treatment.

The capital is currently grappling with a spike in Covid infections, with the highest number of cases in the country. Since Thailand’s first reported case of the Omicron variant on January 1, Bangkok has recorded 62,954 cases of the virus. Yesterday, Thailand reported 16,426 new infections, the highest since August 2021. Of those, 2,891 cases are in the capital. 136 are imported infections but the vast majority are cases of local transmission. The CCSA also announced 27 Covid fatalities yesterday.

According to Dr Theera Worathanarat from the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, yesterday’s CCSA report does not include 11,816 people who received a positive result through antigen tests.

[Tripadvisor]

Bangkok to open 9 community isolation centres with 970 beds for mild patients

Authorities from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration visited the new community isolation centre in the Thawee Wattana district of Bangkok. They were checking the centre before it officially opens. Nine more isolation centres will open, and are expected to offer 970 beds for Covid-19 patients in Thailand’s capital. The authorities also said the Bangkok Emergency Medical Centre improved its contact system to avoid patients being left behind.

The centre is set to support Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms or so-called “green” patients. The place has 114 beds available, in separate spaces for male and female patients. There are two extra rooms with 10 beds to support the infected families. This centre has equipment to measure patients’ temperature and blood oxygen, bedding sets, shower sets, face masks, hand sanitizers, food, drinks, internet, fans, and CCTV for patients’ safety.

Aside from this centre, BMA Secretary Khajit Chatchawanich said 9 more community isolation centres would open in Bangkok to offer 970 more beds. He shared that doctors and medical workers would evaluate the level of the patient’s symptoms. Most patients were expected to get into home isolation.

If any patients can’t isolate themselves at home, they will be sent to the community isolation or hospital according to the level of their symptoms.

Following the report of Covid-19 patients who left to wait for treatment on the street, the authority also says that the Bangkok Emergency Medical Centre or Erawan Centre, which was responsible for the emergency cases, already improved their contact channel and services to fix the problems. The hotline was opened for 24 hours and increased from 30 to 100 lines, and more cars were available to pick up emergency patients quicker.

[Sundance2020]

60% Covid-19 hospital beds in Thailand Occupied



Thailand’s director-general of the Department of the Department of Medical Services said yesterday that 60% of 180,000 Covid-19 hospital beds are occupied. This is a sudden increase from Wednesday, when 49.1% of beds were occupied. The Public Health Ministry reported that as of Thursday there were 42,044 beds beds for patients in “level 1”, with 89,141 beds occupied. There were 24,456 beds for patients in level 2.1 with severe symptoms, with 5,104 beds occupied. There were 5,633 beds for patients in level 2.2, with 703 beds occupied.

The director-general told the Bangkok Post that most infections are in children and working people, while most people who have died are either elderly or in “fragile” groups. This includes people who have chronic diseases, and bed-ridden people who were infected from someone close to them.

In Bangkok, more Covid-19 community isolation centres are set to open. Authorities from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration have visited one centre in Thawee Wattana district to check it before it opens. The centre will support patients with mild symptoms, or so-called “green” patients. Apart from this centre, BMA Secretary Khajit Chatchawanich said 9 more community isolation centres would open in Bangkok to offer 970 more beds. If any patients can’t isolate themselves at home, they will be sent to the community isolation or hospital according to the level of their symptoms.

[Sundance2020]

Treatment to remain free for Covid patients with moderate or severe symptoms



Emergency Covid-19 treatment will remain free for patients with moderate or severe illness, according to the government. Deputy spokesperson Traisuree Taisaranakul says the new Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients Plus scheme will mean such patients can request treatment at any facility for 3 days, before being transferred to the government or private hospital where they are registered.

Currently, Covid patients with symptoms ranging from mild to severe can be treated for free at any hospital, under the existing UCEP scheme. However, from March 16, those who only have mild symptoms will be excluded from inpatient treatment.

“We want to reserve beds in hospitals for the yellow (moderate) and red (severe) groups of patients.”

According to a Bangkok Post report, Traisuree says the majority of Covid-19 patients now only have mild symptoms. Those who don’t belong to groups considered high-risk, such as the elderly or those with underlying health conditions, are being told to self-isolate at home or to avail of community isolation schemes, which include consulting with doctors remotely.

Since the Omicron variant took over as the dominant variant in the kingdom, Public Health Ministry data shows that 88% of Covid patients are in the green, aka mild, category. Only 12% are in the yellow or red groups, meaning they have moderate or severe symptoms.

“Patients who are in the green group will not have the UCEP Plus privilege, but their treatment cost can be covered by other healthcare schemes including the National Health Security Office’s universal health coverage, the social security system, or the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme.”

Meanwhile, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul says the situation is improving in Thailand, with the infection rate having dropped below the recovery rate and new cases declining overall.

[Sundance2020]

Convenient Covid-19 testing – say hello to ATK vending machines



In Thailand, you can find a range of items in vending machines including instant noodles, snacks, drinks, CBD-infused coffee, condoms, SIM cards, electronic gadgets, and even ice cream. In the coronavirus era, face masks and Covid-19 tests have been added to the list.

Vending machines filled with rapid antigen Covid-19 test kits has been set up outside a hospital in the northern province Nan, offing the two ATK for 100 baht. The vending machines allow people to purchase a test any time of the day. The vending machines have been placed in front of Nan Hospital 1 and Nan Hospital 2.

The director of Nan hospital decided to install the ATK test vending machines so that visitors could test themselves before seeing patients to reduce the spread of Covid-19. The vending machine stocks 600 test kits a day, so there is a high potential to catch cases of the virus before they enter the hospital.

Producers of the vending machine, Saint Med Company, plan to install 50 ATK test vending machines in government hospitals around the country by the end of March 2022. The company estimates they will sell 30,000 tests every day through the machines and aim to make a profit of 1.8 billion baht by the end of the year.

While you can order ATK test kits online, you have to wait for them to arrive, so most people in Thailand buy their ATK tests from pharmacies, supermarkets or get tested at a hospital. However, going into a public place if you have symptoms of the virus could risk spreading the highly-transmissible air-borne coronavirus to others.