Desperate to find a hospital, a couple decided to ride their motorcycle to a police station in Bangkok’s east and lie next to a shrine.
At around 7pm on Tuesday, the middle-aged couple arrived on their motorbike at the Phra Khanong Police Station in Onnut area pleading for help from the police while the wife was having difficulty breathing.
The couple, whose names were not disclosed, told police and rescue workers that they had gone to two hospitals – one in Bangrak area and another on Rama IV Road – to seek COVID-19 tests but were rejected. On their way home in Udomsuk, the wife started to have difficulty breathing so they stopped at the police station to rest.
With rapid antigen tests provided by a volunteer rescue team, both of them were tested positive for COVID-19. The wife later received supplemental oxygen to aid her breathing.
It took hours for the couple to find hospitals that were willing to treat them. The man was eventually sent to Bang Na Hospital and the wife to Kluaynamthai Hospital.
Thailand today reported 20,515 COVID-19 new infections and a record-high of 312 deaths. The hardest-hit 29 provinces will be under lockdown measures – overnight curfew, dining-in bans and limited opening hours of several venues – at least until Aug. 30.
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