The Royal Thai Navy is preparing to convert its state quarantine centers into field hospitals to handle the surging numbers of Covid-19 patients in the East.
Adm. Teerakul Kanchana, chief of naval operations, on Jan. 1 inspected centers at the Naval Recruit Training Center, Marine Corps camp, and the navy’s training field in Chantakhem, Chanthaburi.
The faculties had been used to house some of the Thais returning from overseas during early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hospitals in Rayong on Friday reported being overrun with coronavirus patients, most of them asymptomatic but still contagious. The goal of the field hospitals is to quarantine those with no or only minor symptoms to relieve pressure on established hospitals such as Somdet Phra Pinklao Hospital and Queen Sirikit Naval Medical Center.
Additionally, Bangkok Naval Hospital and Abhakornkiatiwong Hospital will be able to take asymptomatic patients, Teerakul said.
