Pattaya is preparing to convert another closed hotel into a coronavirus field hospital as the number of cases in the city continues to soar.
Chonburi on Thursday reported 620 new cases with 151 of those in Banglamung, which includes Pattaya and Nongprue. Thailand, as a whole, reported 13,655 new cases with 545 of those found in prisons. There were 87 more deaths reported.
Mayor Sonthaya Kunplome said July 21 that the D Varee Hotel in Jomtien Beach will open today as a so-called “hospitel” with 800 beds for Covid-19 patients with no or minor symptoms.
The D Varee will complement the city’s existing hospitel at the Bella Express Hotel. It will be operated by Pattaya Hospital with two patients in each of the 400 rooms.
Sonthaya said Pattaya also is procuring rapid antigen test kits to greatly expand the city’s coronavirus testing capacity. Rapid antigen tests aren’t as accurate as more invasive and expensive RT-PCR tests, however, as they are prone to false negatives. RT-PCR tests rarely produce false positives.
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