Bangkok (AFP)

In Thailand, mortuaries overwhelmed by Covid-19 deaths are renting refrigerated containers to store bodies and forensic teams are on the verge of exhaustion.

"The physical and mental overload is very heavy (...), some members of our staff faint. We are almost at the limit of our capacities", notes Thanitchet Khetkham, employee at the morgue of the hospital of the Thammasat University north of Bangkok.

In a protective suit, gloved hands, visor and mask on his face, he tests, using a swab, yet another body which has just arrived in the ward.

If he is positive for Covid-19, no autopsy can be performed and he will be hastily cremated in a crematorium.

Thanichet Khetkham's service has been overwhelmed for several days.

A container, formerly intended to store perishable goods and converted to store corpses, had to be rented.

Caregivers remove the bodies of Covid-19 victims from the crowded morgue of Thammasat hospital, in Pathum Thani province (Thailand), August 4, 2021 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

If this continues, "others will undoubtedly be necessary", sighs the young man.

Thailand, which had managed to pass the 2020 milestone with a low number of Covid-19 cases, finds itself - like several countries in Asia - very vulnerable to the epidemic due to the Delta variant.

This Thursday, nearly 21,000 cases were recorded, unheard of since the start of the health crisis.

160 deaths have been recorded, the vast majority in Bangkok.

Hospitals in the capital and surrounding provinces are overwhelmed.

The megalopolis of 10 million people and part of the country are under severe restrictions and a nighttime curfew has been imposed.

But the vaccine campaign is unfolding slowly.

Only 4 of the 70 million Thais have received two doses of vaccines and the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha is criticized for its handling of the crisis.

"By the end of the year, we plan to administer at least 10 million doses per month," government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said.

Caregivers remove the bodies of Covid-19 victims from a refrigerated container and place them in coffins, at Thammasat hospital, in Pathum Thani province (Thailand), August 4, 2021 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

In the meantime, the bodies of the dead from Covid-19 sometimes stay at home for several days before the overwhelmed teams take them in.

"We must continue to do our work until we can no longer," said Thippailin Phinjirapong, forensic scientist at the Thammasat morgue.

He urges the government to help them and provide more staff.

“The number of employees is the same as before the pandemic, but the work we do has tripled. What if one of us gets sick?” He asks.

© 2021 AFP