BANGKOK (UCAN): Medical workers on the front lines of Thailand’s fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic have been disproportionately affected by contracting the virus, some experts say.
The country has so far recorded just under 3,000 Covid-19 coronavirus cases, but by early April more than 80 of them were doctors and nurses and, with another two were reported to have contracted the virus on April 29, the number rose to 102.
Just as elsewhere in the region, medical personnel are especially at risk of contracting the airborne virus because they need to spend long periods close to infected patients.
Stressing that the easy spread of the virus poses constant risks to doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, medical experts and rights advocates have called on Thai authorities to ensure that medical staff are better protected.
“The Thai government should ensure all staff at all medical facilities have adequate personal protection,” Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
“Nurses, doctors and other medical personnel are struggling with a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), which is essential to keep them safe,” Phasuk said.
“Because new supplies haven’t arrived on time, PPE is rationed in many hospitals, requiring healthcare providers to work with ‘do it yourself’ protection gear they procure or make themselves,” he added.
Of Thailand’s 2,969 reported cases of Covid-19 infections, 54 people have died, including some medical workers. Experts say these figures may have been under-reported by the government.
In addition to a heightened risk of infection, overwork is posing another risk to Thai medical staff. Many doctors and nurses do punishing 12-hour shifts as they care for Covid-19 patients.
One foreign news agency quoted an overworked 36-year-old nurse, who has worked in an intensive care unit for 14 years, as saying, “I’m scared of getting infected and the virus leaking from the hospital.”
However, she insisted that she felt it was her job to stand by her patients. “I keep telling patients that they are not fighting alone,” she stressed.
Rights advocates like Sunai warn, however, that medical workers might end up facing pushback from officials if they speak out.
“Frontline healthcare workers in Thailand are working punishing schedules and facing risks of infection and burnout,” he said, adding, however, that “their voices and concerns have been suppressed.”
Sunai has decried attempts by Thai authorities to clamp down on people who have voiced concerns about the government’s handling of the crisis.
“Whistleblowers in Thailand’s public health sector and online journalists face retaliatory ‘anti-fake news’ lawsuits and intimidation from authorities after they either criticised the government’s response to the outbreak or reported essential medical supplies were not sufficiently available,” he said.
“Officials have also threatened some medical personnel with disciplinary action, including termination of employment contracts and revocation of their licenses, for speaking out about the serious shortage of essential supplies in hospitals.”
