Pattaya’s “hospitels” are slowly emptying, with those suffering mild cases of Covid-19 falling as the city’s vaccination rate rises.
Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome and doctors from Pattaya Hospital on Sept. 30 visited two hotels converted into coronavirus-care facilities: the OZO North Pattaya and D Varee Jomtien Beach hotels.
The two hotels have a total of 1,600 beds for coronavirus patients showing no or mild symptoms. Currently, only 1,100 of those beds are filled, Sonthaya said.
Patients don’t need much supervision during their 14-day required stay. One doctor is assigned to up to 100 people, with nurses responsible for up to 50. Patients are contacted twice daily to inquire about any symptoms.
While the number of those placed in “hospitels” is declining, Pattaya’s overall cases are not. The difference is that new cases – most found with antigen test kits – are being allowed to isolate at home.
Thus, new daily cases have hovered around 120 for weeks, even as Chonburi Province’s overall caseload has dropped. Chonburi on Friday reported 820 more cases, 132 of which were in Banglamung District, which includes Pattaya.
Sonthaya said declining hospitalizations are a key to reopening Pattaya to foreign tourists on Nov. 1. The city already has reached the 70-percent mark for vaccinating the public against Covid-19.
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