Phuket field hospital closes as last COVID-19 patients recover

BANGKOK — Phuket’s 1st Field Hospital is being temporarily shut down and put on standby as the last Covid-19 patients have recovered, Phuket Governor Pakkapong Tawipat said Sunday (May 31).

“Today is the day that Phuket has zero Covid-19 patients,” he said. “I would like to thank all officials and Phuket residents for their efforts and cooperation to make our province finally Covid-19-free. Our next job is to rehabilitate the province’s economy, especially the tourism industry that has been severely affected by the outbreak.”

At the closing ceremony held at 4pm yesterday, the governor was joined by representatives from the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket Office, the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and the Phuket Federation of Industries to provide 600 survival kits to local people who have been affected by the Covid-19 crisis.

Phuket’s 1st Field Hospital was established on March 27 with 104 beds in a two-storey building. The hospital had been staffed with medical professionals from five hospitals in the province. Some 123 Covid-19 patients have been treated at the hospital and all have fully recovered and been discharged, with none being tested positive again.

The 2nd field hospital at Songklanagarind Hospital Phuket Campus is also on standby, having seen its last patient go home on May 15.

Since the outbreak started, Phuket reported 227 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Of these, 224 patients fully recovered and three died.