The goal of this fund is to maximize lives saved. Doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers who are fighting on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis currently do not have enough equipment to protect themselves. The most important thing we can do right now is making sure the healthcare workers, especially those who are stationed in rural Thailand, have the necessary protection to avoid COVID-19 infection.
As seen in Italy and USA, when healthcare workers were not sufficiently protected and were infected, they be quarantined for at least 14 days, which means that the already exhausted workforce is depleted (see Reference 1, 2). Meanwhile, infected healthcare workers might not show symptoms but also risk spreading the virus to staffs and others. In UK, it was estimated that as much as 30.5% of infected cases were related to healthcare workers (see Reference 3).
Thus, it is critical that Thailand’s healthcare workers should be provided with essential protective gears in order to curb infection rate in overall Thailand. In seeing the numbers decline in Thailand, we are glad that the call for help has been answered, both through our project and many other fundraising initiatives led by citizens and companies across Thailand.
Since this COVID-19 Fund was created in March, we have been able to support over 200 hospitals across rural Thailand. This project runs as an ongoing COVID-19 Fund for Thailand, which we will continue to update as the situation and needs change. The structure of this fund is to raise fund on an on-going basis to support the ongoing needs during this time of crisis.
The details of this fund, including the use of funds, will continuously be updated right on this page.