Thais to be flown home from Wuhan
QUARANTINE AWAITS 140
>>A plane will be sent to coronavirushit Wuhan to bring Thais stranded in the locked-down city back home on Tuesday now that China has agreed to let planes land in the Chinese city, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said yesterday.
Of the 161 Thais in the city and other areas of Hubei province, some 130-140 have registered to return home. After arriving back in Thailand, they will be kept in quarantine in line with standard medical practices, Mr Anutin said, adding the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, and a few state-run hospitals under the Public Health Ministry are well-equipped to quarantine them.
“Both sides [Thailand and China] are ready [for the evacuation]. I talked to the Chinese charge d’affaires. He understood everything. I believe there will be no problem,” Mr Anutin said.
Deputy government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul said Air Asia will send a plane to bring the Thais back home because the airline already has several direct flights between Bangkok and Wuhan.
Meanwhile, three diplomats from the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing are on their way to Wuhan to prepare for the evacuation of Thais there, said government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat. Two first secretaries, Nirat Kachanarajit and Methas Chaiphut, and second secretary Akkhanit Khamket left Beijing by car yesterday morning and are expected to arrive in Wuhan tonight.
The diplomats will perform their duties until their mission is completed. After that they will be quarantined for 14 days to have their symptoms monitored, Ms Narumon said.
Tanarak Plipat, deputy director the Department of Disease Control, said yesterday 19 cases of novel coronavirus infection had been detected so far in Thailand.
Of them, seven patients have been treated, discharged and sent back home. The other 12 remain in hospital, said Dr Tanarak.
Since the outbreak of the virus, a total of 344 people had been under observation. Of the total, 39 were found to have suspicious symptoms through airport screenings and 305 others sought medical treatment voluntarily, he said.
Of them, 70 were allowed to return home. Most were found to have been suffering from seasonal influenza, said Dr Tanarak. The other 274 are still being monitored at hospitals, he added.
On Friday, the Public Health Ministry confirmed the country’s first case of person-to-person transmission of the Wuhan virus.
Health officials found a local taxi driver who was infected had never travelled to China. He was in contact with 13 people, including three members of his family. All tested negative for the virus but were under surveillance.
The taxi driver’s condition has since improved and there should be no concern, said Sukhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary for the Public Health Ministry.
Dr Sukhum added the driver stopped working and stayed at home when he knew he was ill, so there was no risk he would spread the virus to other passengers.
In Pattaya, hotel bookings in the resort city have plunged in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak that has forced the Chinese government to keep its citizens at home in a bid to contain the virus.
Agents from China had cancelled rooms in Pattaya after Beijing imposed a ban on tour groups from travelling abroad, said Pakamon Wongyai, the president of the Thai Hotels Association’s Eastern Region.
Tour groups account for about 40% of all Chinese travellers to Thailand.