Thai Hospitals Protect Babies Born in a Pandemic with Face Shields

Apr 14, 2020 | HEALTH, NEWS, Thailand

by AFP

A newborn wearing a face shield at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok

Fast asleep, swaddled in a towel and snug in a pink beanie, a baby born during a pandemic in a Thai hospital needs one last item to ensure its health — a face shield.

Bangkok hospitals are using the shields on newborns in their maternity wards to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

Nurses hold newborn babies wearing face shields at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok

Thailand has detected 2,613 cases of the virus, with 41 deaths — a relatively low number despite being the first country outside China to record an infection.

Bangkok is now under an effective lockdown — silencing the usual boistrous and boozy Thai new year Songkran festival this week — while an overnight curfew has kept all but essential vehicles off the streets. 

Extraordinary measures have also been rolled out at Praram 9 Hospital, where newborns are being fitted with face shields, a precaution taken at other maternity wards across the capital.

The tiny face guards have been designed by the hospital for use when the baby makes its first journey home.