A taxi driver, who was the country's first case of local transmission of the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, has fully recovered and been discharged from hospital, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said yesterday.
Meanwhile, four of 138 Thais who arrived home from Wuhan on Tuesday night are under close surveillance after some -- two men and two woman -- developed high temperatures and initial lung examinations found "slight irregularities" with three of them, doctors said.
The four were being treated at the navy-owned Somdej Phranangchaosirikit Hospital in Chon Buri's Sattahip district.
As for the taxi driver, 50, whose name was not disclosed, he was discharged from Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province yesterday after repeated laboratory tests revealed his body was virus free from Jan 31.
"He has completely returned to normal. We regarded his case as a moderate one We did not give him the anti-Aids virus drug," said Anuttra Ratnarathon, a doctor who treated him at the institute for nine days.
The driver had earlier developed a fever and had a cough for about a week after Chinese tourists took his cab.
According to Dr Anuttra, an initial lab test from the first hospital the taxi driver visited showed he was infected with novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV). He was admitted to the institute.
The patient was kept in a negative pressure room. Drugs were given based on his condition.
He was given oxygen while being treated for the first few days. He gradually recovered after treatment.
Wearing a face mask, the driver tearfully told the media he was relieved his immediate family had not contracted the disease.
He recommended other drivers take more care regarding their health, and especially to wear masks to avoid being infected with the disease.
"I don't have any bad feelings towards the tourists after being infected with the disease because we are the same family," he said.
"I am so sad about the news coming from Wuhan. And I want to give my support to the people of Wuhan to keep fighting against the disease. I am sure that they can overcome it like I have now."
