40 new virus cases found in South
Govt to double-check CCSA figures in Yala
While the first day of lockdown easing took effect yesterday and the number of confirmed new Covid-19 infections fell to three, the southernmost province of Yala reported 40 new suspected cases, prompting the government to conduct a double-check.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) update heralded the lowest figure since early March.
The suspected new cases were detected during an active casefinding operation in the province.
Yala pubic health official Songkran Maichum said yesterday the province kicked off active case-finding on Saturday, and 40 people out of 311 tested positive for the virus.
Of the new cases, 24 were in Yaha district, seven in Bannangsata district, five in Raman district and the other four in Muang district, he said.
However, as it was the province’s highest number of Covid-19 cases reported in a single day, health authorities decided to run a second test to confirm the result, Dr Songkran said.
He said the testing would be carried out by Songkhla’s medical science centre.
According to Dr Songkran, health officials conducted active case-finding during April 18-24, and 20 people out of 3,277 tested positive for the virus.
He said the testing covered every district and focused on nine high-risk groups, including those who returned from religious activities overseas.
“The [latest 40 cases] is the highest in the province so it is recommended that samples should be collected for another test,” he said. “The public will be informed when the results are out.”
Yala has 126 confirmed cases, 97 of them discharged from hospitals. Two deaths were recorded in the province.
Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the CCSA, addressed the issue at the daily press briefing, saying another test is recommended because active case-finding so far found a small number of infections.
Dr Taweesilp allayed concerns the CCSA could be concealing information, saying the CCSA must confirm the figures are accurate before releasing them.
Anupong Sujariyakul, the Department of Diseases Control’s senior specialist, said yesterday Covid-19 case detection and containment in Yala were effective, so the new 40 cases in one day called for another test.
He also discussed a possibility the results could be false positives, citing a new laboratory setup of new nucleic acid extraction machines.
The results of the fresh test are expected today.
Dr Taweesilp also reported three new confirmed cases yesterday — two in Bangkok and the other in Narathiwat.
The Bangkok cases, a 45-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman, had contacts with previous cases, while the Narathiwat man, 24, is being checked at a state quarantine facility.
Thailand has seen a total of 2,969 coronavirus cases and 54 deaths since the outbreak began in January.
New daily infections stayed in the single digits for a week and the government allowed some businesses and public parks to reopen yesterday, as well as resumed alcohol sales.
Dr Taweesilp said a total of 3,981 people flew home from 25 countries during April 4-May 2 while 6,819 others returned home via border checkpoints with neighbouring countries during April 18-May 1.
Meanwhile, a source from the Defence Ministry said yesterday the state quarantine programme is an effective measure in containing the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The source said that 81 Thais who returned from overseas from April 3 to 29 and underwent quarantine tested positive for the virus.
Without the 14-day state quarantine programme, these people might have returned to their communities across the country and exposed dozens of people to the virus, the source, who asked not to be named, said.