An e-sport player died of COVID-19 after spending five days in self-quarantine and trying unsuccessfully to seek help from hospitals after his symptoms worsened.
Kunlasub Wattnaphon said in a live stream on Facebook on 17th April that he had symptoms of COVID-19 and had been self-quarantined at home for 5 days.
He called several medical hotline numbers to seek help only to be told to contact other agencies.
As a result, he could not find any hospitals to diagnose him and could not ask for an ambulance to take him to the hospital, he said.
During the live stream, he said his symptoms were severe, he could not drive to hospital and he did not want to take a taxi and risk spreading the disease.
He had a cough, a dry throat, loss of appetite, and had to drink three litres of water a day. He also had breathing difficulties.
On 21st April, he posted on Facebook that he was admitted to hospital and was diagnosed with COVID-19. The virus had attacked his lungs and he was put on a respirator.
Doctors said his symptoms were severe partly because of his obesity.
He asked his friend to provide updates on his condition on his Facebook page.
His lung function was only about 20% and he had to remain in ICU indefinitely. About 10.22pm on Friday, he had a heart attack.
Doctors tried to bring him around. At 11.26pm, his friend posted on his Facebook that he had died.
Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha on Saturday offered his condolences to the family and apologised for the slow process in admitting COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms as in this case.
“Generally, if a patient receives medication in a timely fashion, this will help reduce severe symptoms. In the current situation, doctors have their hands full and hospitals are overloaded,” he said.
