The Non Sung District Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand.
Credit: Flickr/Public Services International
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The COVID Performance Index released by Sydney’s Lowy Institute earlier this year ranked Thailand among the top five countries in terms of its responses to the pandemic. However, things have gone downhill since the outbreak of the U.K. variant at Bangkok’s flashy Thonglor district at the end of March.
Since the Songkran holiday in mid-April, new daily cases have surpassed 1,000, and then, from April 23, exceeded 2,000. As of April 28, the total infections sit at 61,699 cases with 178 deaths. These figures are still relatively low compared to many other countries. However, Thailand’s affordable and accessible health care system is straining under the pressure, in large part because of a national policy of hospitalizing all COVID-19 patients including asymptomatic patients.