Thailand says to add ICU beds after reporting record COVID-19 tally

BANGKOK: Thailand needs to add more intensive care unit (ICU) beds at hospitals to tackle an influx of COVID-19 patients, an official said on Friday, as the country struggles with a third wave of infections, the most severe it has faced up to now.

Based on a daily rate of 1,500 new cases, Thailand will only have enough ICU beds for around one more week in Bangkok and just under three weeks nationwide, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's COVID-19 task force. "There will be impact. We don't know how it will end, but we're assessing the situation under the worst-case scenario," Taweesin told reporters.