Two more Thais infected

The Public Health Ministry yesterday announced two new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in Thailand to 37.

The new cases are a 31-year-old woman whose relative had visited Guangzhou, and a 29-year-old man who drove Chinese tourists around.

Sukhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary for public health, said the woman was a maid and had been initially diagnosed with pneumonia, but was later transferred to Rajavithi Hospital after doctors learned she had a relative who had gone to China.

The man, meanwhile, was admitted to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province. He had shown up with fever and a cough after being in close contact with Chinese tourists.

Health officials are checking if people the patients know are also infected.

“We found more confirmed cases because the Public Health Ministry improved its surveillance on Feb 18, increasing the number of countries, visitors and provinces under close watch,” Dr Sukhum said.

The good news, he said, is that another Covid-19 patient has fully recovered and been discharged in Krabi. The patient was a Chinese woman, 32, who had landed in Bangkok before Wuhan airport was closed. He said that of the 37 confirmed cases, 22 (60%) had been discharged, adding that 12 of the 37 were Thai.

Patients under investigation numbered 1,580. Of these, 1,160 had been diagnosed with influenza and had been discharged under monitoring. The other 420 remain in hospital.