A dozen Bangkok hospitals suspend COVID-19 testing amid shortages

[webfact]

FILE PHOTO: Local residents queue for a COVID-19 nasal swab test after hundreds of residents of Watthana district and the trendy Thonglor neighborhood tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bangkok, Thailand, April 8, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - At least 12 hospitals in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, said as of Friday they were suspending testing for COVID-19 due to high demand and shortage of supplies, amid a new spike in cases.

 

The hospitals issued notices on their social media and on messaging apps this week, some saying the suspension would last only a few days and others giving no date for resumption of tests.

 

Bangkok is at the epicentre of a new outbreak in Thailand that has seen new cases go from only a few dozen per day to several hundred per day, prompting the government to scramble to boost testing and trace new cases.

 

The government has been hosting its own mass testing in districts of Bangkok where clusters have been reported, mostly involving bars or entertainment venues that have been ordered closed for two weeks.

 

Thailand reported 405 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, and nearly a third of cabinet ministers are self-isolating due to potential exposure to cases.

 

The spike in infections comes at a tricky time for Thailand, ahead of next week's annual Songkran festival, known for big gatherings and notoriously crowded water fights that authorities have banned.

 

Thailand on Wednesday confirmed the presence locally of the highly transmissible coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 first identified in Britain.

 

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Patpicha Tanankasempipat; Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Ed Davies, Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-04-09

 

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[Surelynot]

Anutin: There is no national shortage of tests, just a localized absence.

[petermik]

7 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Anutin: There is no national shortage of tests, just a localized absence.

That was yesterday...today`s another matter....don`t worry Thailand is well prepared to tackle this pandemic.....straight from the Governments mouth ????

[Darbar]

So now the numbers can't be trusted...

 

This country can be infuriating at times.

[ETatBKK]

4 months ago they had testing capacity to handle Samut Sakhon outbreak (800+ per day), but now they don't have capacity for this small jump (400+ per day) ? ? ?

[RichardColeman]

Come on all you defenders of how well Thailand is doing with Covid - defend running out of tests a year after the pandemic started. Defend this pathetic planning. 

 

Once again Thailand will be showing lower numbers, this time for having no available testing, not from refusing to test. 

[tomazbodner]

13 minutes ago, Darbar said:

So now the numbers can't be trusted...

 

This country can be infuriating at times.

Of course they are trusted. They talk about CONFIRMED cases. Those who weren't tested can't be confirmed. Even everyone else is infected, they weren't tested hence they don't exist in statistics. It's a convenience for interpretation, whichever way you wish to twist it.

[Falcon]

Another scam to hide the real numbers of people with the COVID-19  virus here in Thailand. Cant have too many people being diagnosed with it as that would really not look good to get the tourist dollar coming in. This country continues to be the laughing stock of the world and really shows that it’s money before everything else.

[mike1967]

Just 24 hours on since certain people said I was being ridiculous to suggest the country needs to go into lockdown. Still feel the same? 

[Wiggy]

Quick! Save the tests for the VIPs and hi-sos.

 

[mike1967]

2 minutes ago, Falcon said:

Another scam to hide the real numbers of people with the COVID-19  virus here in Thailand. Cant have too many people being diagnosed with it as that would really not look good to get the tourist dollar coming in. This country continues to be the laughing stock of the world and really shows that it’s money before everything else.

I have been saying for months and months that travel to Thailand is now out of Thailand's hands. They may think they are calling the shots but they're not. Unfortunately, it's now inevitable that travel to Thailand will be banned from vaccinated countries or at least hotel quarantine at ones own expense back in their home countries. 

[Wiggy]

1 minute ago, mike1967 said:

I have been saying for months and months that travel to Thailand is now out of Thailand's hands. They may think they are calling the shots but they're not. Unfortunately, it's now inevitable that travel to Thailand will be banned from vaccinated countries or at least hotel quarantine at ones own expense back in their home countries. 

Yes, I agree. I saw a survey the other day where 85% of people said they wouldn't travel to an unvaccinated country, even if they were vaccinated themselves. Thailand is messing this up big time.

[animatic]

2 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Anutin: There is no national shortage of tests, just a localized absence.

 

14 minutes ago, Wiggy said:

Quick! Save the tests for the VIPs and hi-sos.

 

This Is the Hi-Sos and VIPs exposed and wanting more tests. Thonglor is HiSo party central.

PS you miss where it said 1/3 of The PMs Cabinet is isolating?

 

[Wiggy]

2 minutes ago, animatic said:

PS you miss where it said 1/3 of The PMs Cabinet is isolating?

I did see that, but choose not to believe a single word of it. Isolating = hiding.

[mike1967]

All this time to prepare and the capital city doesn't even have enough tests. Arrogance or what?

[AlfHuy]

That's easy money.

Soon, you can do your test at your local 7/11

More money for the .... group

[AlfHuy]

7 minutes ago, animatic said:

 

This Is the Hi-Sos and VIPs exposed and wanting more tests. Thonglor is HiSo party central.

PS you miss where it said 1/3 of The PMs Cabinet is isolating?

 

I read today somewhere that one minister apparently was " French kissing" someone and probably catched the virus there.

 

What's that?

 

Asking for a friend.

[jojothai]

This looks like total incompetence. 
A serious situation is potentially expanding and they do not have the test kits needed?
 

A cousin of my thai wife was just found to have the virus. In a small town in Prachuap Khiri Khan, out of city.

We are being told that cases are growing in Hua Hin.  Best not go there.

 

[Guderian]

23 minutes ago, mike1967 said:

All this time to prepare and the capital city doesn't even have enough tests. Arrogance or what?

 

Yes indeed, what on earth have they been doing for the last year? Spending all their time and energy trying to figure out a million different ways to allow foreign tourists back into the country so that a bunch of seedy hoteliers in the likes of Pattaya renting out short-time rooms don't go broke, when they should have been ensuring supplies of tests and PPE, and negotiating hard with vendors for vaccine supplies. I'm honestly surprised that the submarine fleet isn't being discussed again, lol.

[SwampyThai]

Reminds me of an old English saying "could not organize a drunken party at an alcohol production plant"

[wensiensheng]

So hears the thing: if they started vaccinating 2 months ago and were going at it all guns blazing now, there would be no need for panic or much testing. But no, vaccinations have to wait till June. By which time schools will inevitably be closed in addition to bars. 
 

i can go without bars but I am really pixxed my daughter might miss yet more school.

 

 

[Jeffr2]

1 hour ago, ETatBKK said:

4 months ago they had testing capacity to handle Samut Sakhon outbreak (800+ per day), but now they don't have capacity for this small jump (400+ per day) ? ? ?

Number of cases per day has nothing to do with availability of test kits.

[Jeffr2]

4 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

So hears the thing: if they started vaccinating 2 months ago and were going at it all guns blazing now, there would be no need for panic or much testing. But no, vaccinations have to wait till June. By which time schools will inevitably be closed in addition to bars. 
 

i can go without bars but I am really pixxed my daughter might miss yet more school.

 

 

Many countries are not vaccinating in mass yet.  Due to the global shortage of jabs, and the HUGE demand.  Not to mention the costs.

[JimInPattaya]

Saving face will cost lives. The people in charge of this public health crisis should take responsibility and resign. Surely there are qualified medical professionals available to take their places.

[Guderian]

6 minutes ago, JimInPattaya said:

The people in charge of this public health crisis should take responsibility and resign.

 

That would be the Health Minister, Anutin, who will go down in history as the worst failure in the position in the history of Thailand. The guy must have some serious family interests in the tourism business, as for the last year he's been behaving much more like the Tourism Minister than the Health Minister.

[mike1967]

32 minutes ago, Guderian said:

 

Yes indeed, what on earth have they been doing for the last year? Spending all their time and energy trying to figure out a million different ways to allow foreign tourists back into the country so that a bunch of seedy hoteliers in the likes of Pattaya renting out short-time rooms don't go broke, when they should have been ensuring supplies of tests and PPE, and negotiating hard with vendors for vaccine supplies. I'm honestly surprised that the submarine fleet isn't being discussed again, lol.

Let's charge farang extra money to enter the country, that'll pay for the vaccines. That worked out well !!!

[lks7689]

1 hour ago, Antonymous said:

TV people are jumping to conspiratorial conclusions, but there probably isn't anything sinister involved here. Logistical issues happen in other countries too. This from the Daily Telegraph today:

Meanwhile, a government-approved Covid testing laboratory has left hundreds of travellers in the lurch after becoming "overwhelmed" with orders. 001Doctor.uk was at the top of a Government list of companies offering compulsory home testing kits for all international arrivals. Yet many of the kits have failed to be delivered, leaving customers stuck in isolation complaining of feeling "confused" and "distressed".

I would say a year into this pandemic, any shortages for test kits is  failure/complacency for whoever is in charge. That's the most basic essential item any country need besides PPE. 

[Wiggy]

15 minutes ago, Guderian said:

 

That would be the Health Minister, Anutin, who will go down in history as the worst failure in the position in the history of Thailand. The guy must have some serious family interests in the tourism business, as for the last year he's been behaving much more like the Tourism Minister than the Health Minister.

Maybe that's because his family own Siam Cement Group (SCG) who have been awarded the contract to build the new terminals at the airport. Coincidence, of course.

[Jimbo2014]

Surreal! - like we didnt have a year to prepare!

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, mike1967 said:

it's now inevitable that travel to Thailand will be banned from vaccinated countries or at least hotel quarantine at ones own expense back in their home countries. 

No it's not, the vaccines do in fact work so such measures would be complete nonsense.