THE coronavirus tally in the last 24 hours to this morning (July 21) climbed to a new high of 13,002 cases and 108 deaths amid sorrow in Thai social media over the dead bodies of three men being left along Bangkok’s roads for hours before there were collected, Sanook.com said.
The Public Health Ministry said of the 13,002 new Covid cases, 11,953 were among the general public and 1,049 in prisons and detention centres.
The additional fatalities raised the death toll since the start of the pandemic to 3,610 while another 8,248 patients were cured.
This takes the cumulative confirmed total since the onset of the pandemic to 439,477 and from April 410,614.
Meanwhile after the depressing story of three men lying dead on the streets and footpaths of Bangkok for hours before their bodies were collected spread online the head of Phra Nakhon district municipality came out to explain that the delay was due to the foundation whose turn it was to perform this duty only having one vehicle to hold Covid corpses and the team had to collect eight of them yesterday.
Mr. Kanit Chumchuay, the district chief, posted a message on Facebook that the Por Tek Tung Foundation only finished the task at midnight with the one Covid vehicle they had.
He thanked Siam Nonthaburi Foundation for putting the three bodies in bags making it easier for Por Tek Tung Foundation workers to pick them up.
The first body was that of a 50-year-old Covid-infected man who collapsed while hailing a vehicle in the middle of the road in front of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara at 10 a.m. yesterday. Although rescuers came to provide first aid, he had died by 2 p.m. but his body remained in the same spot till 10 p.m. last night before it was collected.
The second body was that of an anonymous man who died in front of Suksapan Shop, Ratchadamnoen Road. While it was uncertain what time he passed away, it was 10:20 p.m. when the team in PPE suits picked up his body.
The third anonymous man, approximately 40 years old, died in front of Lotus Hypermarket next to Rama 4 road last evening. Klong Toey residents informed the authorities at 8.30 p.m. and the Klong Toey Rabbit volunteer team went to check his body, using an oximeter to ascertain the oxygen level, but found that he had already died. His body too was collected late.
CAPTIONS:
Top: One of the three dead bodies being collected from a pavement last night
Home Page: A sign put up saying “No entry, there is a Covid patient.” Both photos: Sanook.com
