Report on the Covid-19 pandemic: Third wave by DUANG PRATEEP FOUNDATION
April ˗ September 2021
After experiencing the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Klong Toey community realised the urgency of protecting themselves. Especially as the second wave had many different effects on them, such as loss of jobs, livelihoods, no income, emotional stress and illnesses, etc.
There are 45 communities in the Klong Toey district with a population of almost 100,000 people. But one day, the third wave of the pandemic arrived and spread rapidly among the people, with even greater numbers of people contracting Covid. The Klong Toey outbreak appeared on the news when a man who lives in the Lock 1-2-3 community caught the virus and quarantined himself in his car because there was no space to do it in his small house. Many media wrote about his story until he was finally accepted by a hospital to treat him.
The pandemic spread from one community to another and became known as the “Klong Toey cluster.” Some infected people died because many hospitals said “all our beds are full” and did not accept new people to treat in the hospitals.
The Abbot of Wat Sapan Temple, Khru Prateep Ungsongtham Hata from the Duang Prateep Foundation, and the Klong Toey Deejang Group joined together to help the people and wanted to have a place to be a “Community Isolation Centre.” The Abbot was pleased to use a new building within the temple compound for the centre, which opened in May 2021 with 300 beds.
In the five months from April – August 2021, the Duang Prateep Foundation, local organisations and community leaders joined together to help the people who had caught Covid-19 or were affected by the virus in other ways. People both inside and outside Klong Toey were provided help, such as transporting them from their house to the “Community Isolation Center”, providing them with Survival Bags of essential daily items, distributing materials to protect themselves (such as alcohol gel and masks), hiring volunteers to spray disinfectant in houses and around community common areas. We also made regular public announcements by the community leaders providing the people with information on good habits to protect themselves and their families, etc.
In July, the number of people who contracted the virus further increased (not less than 200 cases per day) and more than 10 people died. So, the “Community Isolation Centre” became full and could not take any more people. The Duang Prateep Foundation then asked the Port Authority of Thailand to make an area of their land to erect a temporary field hospital.
On 27 August 2021, the Klong Toey Field Hospital with 300 beds was officially opened and began accepting patients, both Thai and foreigners, from Klong Toey and outside Klong Toey. Doctors and nurses from Kasemrat Hospital are on hand to take care of the patients. Finally, this place can provide a shelter for taking care of sick people sick with Covid-19, and no one is left at their house.
Statistical Record as of 16 September 2021
Anti-Covid-19 Help for Children
|
Produced media for young children and Primary level children |
180 children |
|
Teachers distributed lunch boxes and milk to children at children’s centers |
590 lunch boxes |
|
Distributed milk to children and elderly people |
8,000 cartons |
|
Distributed formula powdered milk for babies (up to 2.5 years) in Klong Toey and rural areas |
1,250 babies |
|
Distributed baby diapers |
776 packs |
Protection Against the Spread of Covid-19
| Hired fire-fighters to spray disinfectant around the communities, children’s development centers and markets | 535 times |
| Transported Covid-19 patients to Isolation Center or Field Hospital | 888 people |
| Provided Oxygen for emergency cases | 40 people |
| Distributed alcohol spray/alcohol gel to the people in 60 communities | 2 times |
| Provided medical equipment such as oximeters and thermometers to community leaders | 706 pieces |
| Provided first-aid medicines such as paracetamol, antidiarrheal drug, etc. to people | 100 cases |
| Distributed herbal medicines to people | 5,190 boxes |
| Distributed Antigen Test Kits to community leaders | 1,315 sets |
| Distributed Homeopathy drinks to people | 6,026 bottles |
| Transported the people to check for Covid-19 infection | 620 people |
Help and Relief for the Elderly, the Bed-ridden, and the Disabled Groups
| Distributed donated food boxes | 75,000 food boxes |
| Delivered cooked food for the elderly, the bed-ridden, and the disabled groups (1,000 food boxes in one month) | 30,000 food boxes |
| Distributed Survival Bags to families affected by Covid-19 in 142 communities, both in Klong Toey and outside Klong Toey | 33,098 bags |
| Distributed adult diapers to 100 people | 400 packs |
Photos of Help Provided to Counter the Third Wave of Covid-19
| Spraying disinfectant in communities | Transporting patients to Isolation Center |
| Providing oxygen to patients at their homes | Providing individual Survival bags |
| Distributing Survival bags to communities through their leaders | Distributed food boxes to people in home-quarantine |
| Provided alcohol spray, alcohol gels and masks to taxi drivers and motorcycle-taxi riders in Bangkok | |
| Distributed formula powdered milk and diapers for babies | Home visiting to patients |
| Distributed milk to children | Home visiting to elderly people and providing Survival Bags |
| Provided food to elderly people | Distributed adult diapers to elderly and bed-ridden people |
