(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) Nearly 19,000 new cases were diagnosed in Thailand every day. The Prime Minister ordered the military to prepare a makeshift hospital

　　China News Agency, Bangkok, February 21 (Reporter Wang Guoan) Thailand officially announced on the 21st that there were 18,883 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia and 32 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

　　Since the beginning of this year, the number of newly confirmed cases in Thailand has been rising every day, and the number of deaths has also increased.

The number of deaths reported on the 21st was the highest in a single day since 2022.

Data map: Under the epidemic, Bangkok, Thailand, the empty Central World shopping mall plaza.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Wang Guoan

　　Abhi Shamai, assistant to the spokesperson of the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Management Center in Thailand, said that although the number of new cases continues to rise, it is temporarily impossible to take blockade measures because the government must develop the economy.

　　She said that it is expected that the number of newly confirmed cases in Thailand will remain high in the near future, and it is recommended that the public try not to go to crowded places, do not participate in gathering activities, and actively vaccinate, including booster shots.

　　On the same day, a spokesman for the Thai Ministry of Defense said that Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Prayut had ordered the military to prepare makeshift hospitals so that they can be opened for the treatment of infected people at any time.

　　Last year, with the widespread spread of the delta virus strain in the country, the Thai sea, land and air force used military facilities to set up makeshift hospitals across the country, providing a total of about 7,000 beds to reduce the workload of social hospitals.

After the domestic epidemic eased, these makeshift hospitals were closed.

　　A spokesman for the Thai Ministry of Defense said that due to the recent surge in confirmed cases across the country, Prayuth instructed the military to coordinate with the Ministry of Health to reopen makeshift hospitals to provide support for the country's fight against the epidemic.

　　As of that day, Thailand had more than 2.73 million confirmed cases and 22,656 deaths.

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