Three more patients infected with the novel coronavirus have fully recovered and been discharged, two Chinese nationals and one Thai, bringing the total number of cleared patients to 27, a senior health official said on Thursday.
Deputy permanent secretary for public health Narong Saiwong said two had been treated and released from the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute, a 63-year-old Chinese man and a 43-year-old Thai man, and a 33-year-old Chinese woman had been discharged from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok.
The total number of local novel coronavirus infections remained at 40 on Thursday. Twenty-seven of them had fully recovered and been discharged, and 13 were still at hospitals, said Dr Narong, the ministry spokesman.
From Jan 3 to Feb 26, a total of 2,064 patients had been under investigation - 76 identified at screening checkpoints and 1,988 who had sought treatment at hospitals. Of the 2,064 patients, 1,352 had seasonal influenza, recovered and were discharged. They were also still being monitored. The other 712 patients remained at hospitals.
Globally, Covid-19 cases stood at 81,406, including 2,771 deaths. Of these, 78,073 cases were in China, including 2,715 deaths, the Public Health Ministry reported, citing the coronavirus update from 46 countries.
Dr Sophon Iamsirithavorn, chief of the Disease Control Department’s Communicable Disease Division, said on Thursday that lab tests came back negative for 97 people, including staff at B.Care Medical Centre in Bangkok, who came in contact with an infected elderly couple and their 8-year-old grandchild who returned from a visit to Japan.
They were awaiting results of the tests on another four people.
The elderly couple and their grandchild were now deemed safe, Dr Sophon said.
The man had put 30 staff of B.Care Medical Centre in Bangkok's Sai Mai district at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus after denying he had travelled overseas. He later admitted he had visited Japan, and tested positive for Covid-19.
