Bangkok airport terminal to double as hospital
Bangkok is planning to turn a terminal at the nation’s main international airport into a field hospital to cope with a rise in Covid-19 infections
The capital of Thailand is struggling to manage the outbreak with hospitals in the country already at capacity, according to a report in The Seattle Times.
“Airports of Thailand, operator of the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, has been asked to convert the newly completed terminal into a facility with an intensive care unit, medical rooms planning and support for patients with mild to medium symptoms,” the article said.
Hospitals already at full capacity
Kumnuan Ungchusak, an expert in epidemiology and adviser to the Health Ministry told a seminar that medical facilities were already at capacity and that deaths could double by August if the outbreak doesn’t ease. The government said the majority of cases have come from Bangkok and that the new hospital will initially provide 5,000 patient beds.
Although Thailand’s general insurance forecast slowed in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis to 3.3 per cent in 2020 compared to the 4.6-per-cent growth in 2019, it looks set to bounce back in 2022, according to UK-based data analysts GlobalData.
Despite an overall decline in the general insurance market, personal accident and health insurance was the fastest growing segment in 2020, which experts put down to an ageing population and the rising demand for Covid-19 health insurance policies. Health insurance, with 6.6 per cent share in premiums, was the fastest growing segment registering a 37.1-per-cent growth in 2020.
“The general insurance industry in the country is expected to face challenges in the short term due to the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Pratyusha Mekala, Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, said. “The government’s stimulus packages and momentum in vaccine rollout will support the recovery of the general insurance industry.”