Hanoi (VNA) – Thailand’sgovernment has donated 12.8 million baht (over 400,000 💖USD) worth of cash andmedical supplies to aid Laos’ battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first donations worth4.3 million baht, delivered last week by the Thai Embassy in Laos, comprised 2million baht of cash, 180 patient beds, 2,370 sets of personal protectiveequipment (PPE) and other medical supplies. The second shipment of supplies,valued more than 8.5 million baht, will be delivered by the end of this month. In addition, Thailand willprovide online medical public health consultations to strengthen COVID-19testing capacity and collaboration between Thai and Lao medical staff,especially at the Thai-Lao border, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Thai-LaoAssociation for Friendship and the Thai Business Association in Laos have provideda total of 3 million baht worth of face masks, PPE outfits and others, throughthe Thai Embassy. On May 10, Thailandrecorded 1,630 new COVID-19 cases, sharply lower than the previous day’s tallyof 2,101, taking the total national count to 85,005. The death toll passed the400 mark in the country, raising by 22 to 421. Thailand has seen anincrease in the number of infections among health workers in its third wave ofCOVID-19, stemming from patients failing to inform hospitals about their riskof contracting the virus. From April 1 to May 7, 512health workers were infected with the virus, according to TaweesilpVisanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration(CCSA). This has raised concern of the Public Health Ministry over the spreadof the disease among medical frontliners./.