FLU OUTBREAK
Govt denies 'covering up' H1N1 deaths
- Published: 29/06/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
The government is denying it has downplayed the severity of H1N1 flu, amid opposition claims of a cover-up.
A day after the confirmation of the first two Thai fatalities from the virus, former deputy public health minister Vicharn Meenchainant said he believed the government had attempted to cover up at least one of the deaths, as confirmation took days to emerge.
The victims are a 40-year-old woman with heart trouble who died on June 20 and a 42-year-old engineer in Chon Buri who died on Saturday. The engineer died after he returned from overseas.
Mr Vicharn, now an opposition Puea Thai MP, said the government must accept responsibility because it had promised the virus would not kill anyone.
Claiming no one could die from the flu was a deliberate attempt to distort the truth, he said.
He suspected the government tried to cover up news of the woman's death, as it took days to emerge. He said the engineer's death clearly showed the thermal scanners at Suvarnabhumi airport, the country's main gateway, had failed, as they were unable to detect the man was carrying the virus when he returned to the country.
But Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai yesterday insisted the ministry had not concealed information about the flu. He said a cover-up would be pointless because it was a non-political issue. He had made it mandatory for doctors to report all new infections, which were then announced to the public.
Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodee said the number of H1N1 infections nationwide rose yesterday to 1,289, from 1,209 cases the day before. Of the latest figure, 1,267 have been cured.
Two people, a 57-year-old woman and a navy private, were the most severe cases. They were treated at hospital and are now recovering.
