As daily COVID-19 infections and deaths continue to surge in recent weeks, Thai authorities have decided to convert the country’s major airport into a field hospital.
A recently completed terminal, dubbed “Satellite 1” or SAT-1, located within the compound of Suvarnabhumi Airport, will be converted into a facility next month offering at least 5,000 beds to COVID-19 patients, according to Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob.
The building consists of four stories and up to 216,000sqm of space. The first floor will accommodate at least 5,000 beds for COVID-19 patients while the second floor will be utilized as an intensive-care unit. The third and fourth floors are expected to accommodate patients with mild or no symptoms.
The new terminal complex was part of a THB62 billion (about US$2 billion) development plan that was approved in 2011. Its opening was…
