The Buzz | Thailand sends COVID-19 patients to hometowns by train

Authorities in Thailand began transporting some people who tested positive for the coronavirus from Bangkok to their hometowns yesterday for isolation and treatment to alleviate the burden on the capital’s overwhelmed medical system.
A train carrying more than 100 patients and medical workers in full protective gear left the city for the northeast.
It will drop patients off in seven provinces, where they will be met by health officers and taken to hospitals.
Medical authorities in Bangkok said Monday that all ICU beds for COVID-19 patients at public hospitals were full and that some of the sick were being treated in emergency rooms. Officials said they have asked army medics to help out at civilian hospitals.
“We will continue this service until no COVID-19 patients who cannot get beds in Bangkok are left,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
He said buses, vans and even aircraft might be deployed to send people back to less badly affected provinces.
Of Thailand’s total of nearly 500,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 fatalities, 137,263 cases and 2,176 deaths have been recorded in Bangkok.