Thai scientists developing ‘gold standard’ PPE suits

[snoop1130]

Thai scientists developing ‘gold standard’ PPE suits

By The Nation

 

Photo credit: Hfocus

 

Thai scientists are developing Level 4 bio-hazard suits in a bid to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign imports of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 crisis.

 

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) and the textile industry are collaborating on the “gold standard” protective suits after successfully developing Level 2 suits, revealed Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon.

 

The (GPO) together with the Textile Industry Development Institute and the Textile Federation of Thailand are producing 100,000 sets of their "We Fight" edition Level 2 PPE suits, which will be ready for delivery in June and July. The Level 2 suits are made from polyester fabric with a waterproof coating, and can be washed for reuse up to 20 times. They will be delivered to hospitals to reduce the cost of importing from abroad and support domestic Thai development and manufacture of medical equipment.

 

The level 2 suit protects medial staff from low to medium infection risk enabling them to safely care for patients who don’t need a respirator, to collect samples, and to screen patients. The first batch of 44,000 suits are expected to be delivered by the end of May, each worth around Bt500.

 

The Health Ministry’s Dr Sopon said Thailand would also soon be able to produce its own Level 4 suits. However, the main development focus is on the production of level 2 PPE, which accounts for up to 80 per cent of the protective gear used during the virus crisis. Level 4 PPE is used only in cases of high risk.

 

The level 4 PPE suits are single-use and cost around Bt300 per set – about the same price as an imported suit. THE GPO expects that about 100,000 sets will be needed.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30388607

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-05-27

 

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[Paiman]

My Missus wants one, as it contains the word * GOLD * ....I want.

[mrfill]

Is Gold Standard above First Class?

 

Or get some really good Platinum Standard or Unobtanium Standard doo dahs....

[khwaibah]

Already been invented.

 

[canopus1969]

How would the rest of the world survive without Thailand

[Fex Bluse]

Again, their sneaky plan all along. Under test and under report the virus numbers and get tourists back and medical tourists in ASAP before the Thai economy collapses. 

 

Actually kind of clever, though sneaky. 

[Dumbastheycome]

Typical....the  knocking brigade rolls out.

I congratulate the initiative. Contrary to a previous opinion Thailand is acting to not be reliant on critical imports of PPE.

 

[Scott Tracy]

There are, in my opinion, certain things a country should not be reliant on another for. It seems that PPE has to be one of these now. 

I'm glad Thailand has developed the level 2 PPE and is now working on Level 4. A pity they seem to cost the same as imported PPE.

[DrTuner]

3 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Again, their sneaky plan all along. Under test and under report the virus numbers and get tourists back and medical tourists in ASAP before the Thai economy collapses. 

 

Actually kind of clever, though sneaky. 

They started understating the numbers by using the "confirmed" hurdle while the borders were open and tourists were still coming, to create a false sense of security. It would have been a massive loss of face to change the system so they simply continued.

 

Case in point, MoPH deleted the number if pending tests from their test reports, including old reports, when it became obvious their testing capacity was nowhere near adequate. It's still unknown what the true capacity of the reference labs is, but seems to have hovered around 400-600/d.

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) and the textile industry are collaborating on the “gold standard” protective suits after successfully developing Level 2 suits, revealed Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Sopon Mekthon.

What they mean is: someone's looked on the internet, seen what they look like & copied the design, stitched on a pair of gold wings and hey presto, we've developed it !

[unblocktheplanet]

If Level 2 costs B 500, how can Level 4 cost B 300?!?!

[mr mr]

here let me fix the headline

 

thai scientists developing ppe suits in order to mitigate import volume.

 

then the article bla bla bla we are developing our own...bla bla bla we don't have to import as much.

 

why the incessant need for everything to be the best ?