Private hospital staff ‘at risk of infection’ due to shortage of face masks

[webfact]

Private hospital staff ‘at risk of infection’ due to shortage of face masks

By THE NATION

 

 

Private hospitals nationwide are facing a critical shortage of sanitary face masks following the outbreak of the new coronavirus or Covid-19, Dr Chalerm Hanpanich, president of Private Hospitals Association, said.

 

“The Ministry of Public Health has ordered private hospitals to stand by for a large-scale outbreak and provide treatment to patients under investigation and those who have high risk of infection,” he said. “However, at present the shortage of face masks in the market has hindered the operation of private hospitals, which substantially increases the risk of medical staff getting infected while treating the patients, and the risk of hospitals becoming the hub that spreads the virus to other patients.”

 

Chalerm further explained that the reason for the current situation was the Department of Internal Trade (DIT)’s order making face masks a controlled product, forcing manufacturers to submit their products to the DIT, making it impossible for hospitals to buy face masks from their existing suppliers. “We have contacted the DIT to buy face masks but they told us to join the queue like other organisations wishing to buy face masks in bulk,” he added.

 

The president added that the association’s survey found that over 250 private hospitals nationwide have or will have inadequate supply of face masks.

 

“We, therefore, would like to ask the government and Department of Internal Trade to provide sufficient face masks to private hospitals, or at least reserve enough supply for us to buy to prevent further spreading of the Covid-19,” he said.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30383139

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-03-02

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[Assurancetourix]

How can it be?
Everything is under control, keep telling us khun Prayuth and his friend khun Anutin ...

 

Oh yes, I was going to forget ..
not far from 80% of surgical masks are made in China ... in factories which have been stopped for two months precisely because of Covid-19

[NCC1701A]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

The Ministry of Public Health has ordered private hospitals to stand by for a large-scale outbreak

but but but...

[tlandtday]

Well I guess the dim witted one should not have been handing out so many free face masks when they should have been reserved for hospital staff?  He should thank the farang for rerfusing the mask?  Woudl it matter anyway as these masks are not even 2.5 safe.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Boy, those guys in charge, they're really running a sharp show here...

 

The private hospitals assn. has to beg the government to remember to allocate them some supply of face masks...  Apparently, it's not like the government / DIT / MoPH couldn't figure that out on their own???

 

[Gracas]

They could tell them to dress like an old time Hollywood cowboy bad guy and wear a hankerchief across their face. Would almost be as good as the way they wear these face masks.

[GeorgeCross]

impossible. masks do not work 

 

..or so i'm told

 

 

[Tayaout]

Now using logic some people might understand why governments around the world are pushing the "mask are useless" narrative. There is simply insufficient mask for everyone and I see a lot of people that have no idea how use them correctly either. 

 

Before you tell me but yeah the virus is smaller than the pore of the mask most virus are attached to some bigger particule and mask use electrostatic to attract very small particules very effectively even for particules much smaller than viruses. 

 

But yeah better not buy mask and leave them to those who have a clue like healthcare workers. ????

multimedia.pdf

Edited March 2, 2020 by Tayaout

[ThomasThBKK]

3 hours ago, tlandtday said:

Well I guess the dim witted one should not have been handing out so many free face masks when they should have been reserved for hospital staff?  He should thank the farang for rerfusing the mask?  Woudl it matter anyway as these masks are not even 2.5 safe.

Yeah but let's face it, PR is more important than lives here. It's sad...

[justin case]

wait, so many people lost their jobs and they cannot be converted into making useless masks ?

[spiekerjozef]

Maybe I can help. I still have the used face masks which I used last time cleaning the alloy wheels of my bike.

[Saint Nick]

100% under control, huh!

If they were as intelligent, as they are arrogant, this country would be run by multiple Nobel prize- winners!

[Stargeezr]

I havechecked Bluport, and Market Village, plus some 7/11s, in Hua Hin, no

one seems to have anything on sale, is the government and hospitals

keeping them all?

Geezer

[Stargeezr]

I have checked Bluport, and Market Village, plus some 7/11s, in Hua Hin, no

one seems to have anything on sale, is the government and hospitals

keeping them all? Do I have to go to Bangkok to get any?

Geezer

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

impossible. masks do not work 

 

Of course N95 masks work... that's the reason hospitals in Thailand and around the world, including the U.S., are crying out for them amid a worldwide shortage.

 

But, they have to be used and worn properly. Other hygiene practices have to be used, including eye protection for medical care workers, hand hygiene for everyone, etc etc.

 

The U.S. Surgeon General popped up the other day pleading with the public, "Don't buy masks."  But the reason was NOT because they don't work. The main reason is there's a shortage and they want to make sure there are enough for the medical workers who have to deal directly with potential and actual CV cases.

 

If the masks didn't work, then the medical workers wouldn't need them either. But that's obviously not the case.

 

If medical workers can be taught how to properly fit and wear N95 masks for protection, so can any other member of the public.

 

Quote

Surgeon General Urges the Public to Stop Buying Face Masks

“Seriously people,” the surgeon general said on Twitter, warning that a run on the masks could risk a shortage harmful to public health professionals.

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/health/coronavirus-n95-face-masks.html

 

Quote

“They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if health care providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!”

 

Huh????  Good for medical workers, but not good for the general public... Because???

 

Quote

Most people are unlikely to know how to wear these masks and could accidentally contaminate themselves if they touch the outside of the mask when they remove it and then touch their face.

Not if the wearer follows the standard mask wearing protocols of washing your hands immediately before and after wearing the mask, and by putting it on or taking it off by the straps instead of the surface of the mask....

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ChipButty]

Government hospitals I understand, but the overpriced private hospitals sort yourselves out you charge enough

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There was another news report thread here in the past day or so saying the government had plans to begin sharing its drugstore masks (not N95 masks) stockpile with various retail outlets like 7/11 starting this week (now???). Controlled price, limits on number of masks sold per person, etc.

 

That was what they claimed was going to happen. Whether and when it will actually happen obviously are always big questions here.

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[rabas]

All masks work to some degree. It's a number game. You may be exposed to many virus particles via hands, mouth, nose, eyes, etc. How many can you stop? The more you stop the better your odds of not catching it. One virus particle will not infect you, you need a virus load, exactly how many depends.  So, cut down the number of virus particles you are exposed to as best as possible.

 

In a hospital setting with potential sick people, I would definitely wear a surgical mask if that is all I had.

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by rabas

[JonnyF]

Maybe Anutin shouldn't have given them all away to Ai Farang.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, the OTHER reason people here in Thailand need N95 masks -- totally apart from the coronavirus threat -- is because they also DO work in blocking most of the PM2.5 air pollution that the government here has abjectly failed to control.

 

Most cities in the U.S. don't typically have the 100 to 200 AQI air pollution levels that Thailand sees during the bad smog season from approx. Nov. to March-April, depending on the location.

 

So, even if there was NO coronavirus here, I'd STILL be needing to wear an N95 mask here in Thailand just to be able to go outdoors during this time of year without endangering my health and hastening my eventual death due to heart disease, stroke, respiratory problems, etc etc.

 

When it comes to N95 masks, the Thai government has left me no choice (other than leaving...)!

 

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

“The Ministry of Public Health has ordered private hospitals to stand by for a large-scale outbreak and provide treatment to patients under investigation and those who have high risk of infection,” he said. “However, at present the shortage of face masks in the market has hindered the operation of private hospitals, which substantially increases the risk of medical staff getting infected while treating the patients, and the risk of hospitals becoming the hub that spreads the virus to other patients.”

Ok I have two questions to ask....

#1 The latest news in another post today says there are only 11 patients [nationwide] undergoing treatment in hospital, all others have returned home cured, so what is the panic in hospitals?

 

#2 What large scale outbreak is suddenly imminent, unless we've been kept in the dark and something is about to unfold?

[rabas]

47 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Ok I have two questions to ask....

#1 The latest news in another post today says there are only 11 patients [nationwide] undergoing treatment in hospital, all others have returned home cured, so what is the panic in hospitals?

 

#2 What large scale outbreak is suddenly imminent, unless we've been kept in the dark and something is about to unfold?

1. This morning, total patients under investigation, PUI, reached 3,252 up 300 since yesterday. 1380 are still in hospital under treatment.  Feb 11 had only 17 new PUI. The rate of new PUI is rising rapidly like confirmed cases in other countries. We are told there are only 42 confirmed cases. Since week 2 they no longer report how many people have been tested. Think.

 

2. see point 1.

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/situation.php

[christophe75]

I've got a riddle for you.

 

Who said :

 

"STOP BUYING MASKS!   They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! "

 

Even a child with serious mental deficiency could understand that such statement is inane. Absurd. Mask are not effective, but we need them badly for healthcare providers ? !

 

It's so stupid that you think the guy is a thai minister, right ?

Wrong.

It's the so called "US Surgeon General".

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/29/health/face-masks-coronavirus-surgeon-general-trnd/index.html

 

????

 

Eventually, it's easy to understand... The guy is a... military. Yes. ????

 

Vice Admiral Jerome Adams

 

Impossible to make it up. aha h ah ah

 

And his uniform is shiny like... Prayuth's.

Edited March 3, 2020 by christophe75

[rabas]

3 minutes ago, christophe75 said:

 

"STOP BUYING MASKS!   They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! "

 

The key is the word general public.  When less than 1 in 10,000,000 people in the US have COVID-19, 10 million masks sold to the public prevents nothing, especially due to hoarding. 10 million masks given to heath care workers is much more effective.

 

They also say one ill health care worker is a double loss. The ill worker and one more to treat them.

[christophe75]

6 minutes ago, rabas said:

The key is the word general public.  When less than 1 in 10,000,000 people in the US have COVID-19, 10 million masks sold to the public prevents nothing, especially due to hoarding. 10 million masks given to heath care workers is much more effective.

 

They also say one ill health care worker is a double loss. The ill worker and one more to treat them.

 

I totally disagree.

 

Civil servants should do their job : mask for the general public AND healthcare providers.

 

That's the cautious and efficient way to go, when confronted to such a threat.

 

But to cry like a baby, like a dumb soldier (oxymoron) sending contradictory messages, is counterproductive. And will backfire, like always.

 

Enough of those bureaucrats.

 

We are laughing at the situation in Thailand, and for good reasons... but what the US are doing is simply mind boggling (incompetence, spinelessness, sheer stupidity, huge lies, you name it).

 

And eventually, you'll see that the "numbers" you give are completely wrong. The virus is everywhere in the US.

 

No test, no case.

[rabas]

1 hour ago, christophe75 said:

I totally disagree.

 

Civil servants should do their job : mask for the general public AND healthcare providers.

 

That's the cautious and efficient way to go, when confronted to such a threat.

 

But to cry like a baby, like a dumb soldier (oxymoron) sending contradictory messages, is counterproductive. And will backfire, like always.

 

Enough of those bureaucrats.

I'm not defending bureaucrats, when it's time to take them out I will be in front of you. I'm explaining what he said.

 

"STOP BUYING MASKS!  They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! "

 

Masks are severely limited. Having 1 in 50 Americans wear a mask, now, prevents nothing. Giving them to health care workers provides best prevention. But you miss the great bureaucratic mess, the US is extremely short of masks, unprepared, is not set up to make them and most come from China, and, the CDC is failing to test adequately or even make good test kits.  Under those conditions what he said is logically correct.

 

"like a dumb soldier (oxymoron)" You mean soldiers are smart?

Edited March 3, 2020 by rabas

[MikeyScars]

The house was burning right in front of them, and the bureaucrats are now trying to set up fire brigades.  Forget about it!

Edited March 3, 2020 by MikeyScars

[CLS]

23 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Boy, those guys in charge, they're really running a sharp show here...

 

The private hospitals assn. has to beg the government to remember to allocate them some supply of face masks...  Apparently, it's not like the government / DIT / MoPH couldn't figure that out on their own???

 

Stupid people don’t know that they are stupid. They live in their own world and unable to think out of the box. Almost 7% of Thai people are mentally disabled, IQ < 70. In Thai government this percentage might even be higher.