Health authorities have managed to find at least 18 people who came into contact with a man infected with Covid-19 who died while travelling on a southbound train earlier this week.
These 18 people had gotten close to Anan Soho, a 57-year-old who died on the train on Monday. He was found to be infected with the Covid-19 virus.
Among the 18 is a woman caught on security camera wearing a yellow shirt as she walked past the man who was walking near a ticket sales counter, according to Aphichat Phromkham, chief of Bang Sue Railway Station told media yesterday.
She has been told to meet doctors and quarantine for 14 days.
Earlier, another video clip showed the man as he coughed near a male passenger at the station. That man has also been found who told authorities that Anan had not coughed on him.
Anan, referred to by the media as "uncle", was a Narathiwat native who had just returned from Pakistan and passed Covid-19 screening at Suvarnabhumi International Airport. His death has raised questions about the credibility of Covid-19 scans being carried out by immigration.
He had taken a taxi from the airport to Bang Sue Railway Station. The driver who helped carry his bags was also in close contact with Anan and has been placed under quarantine.
Anan became sick while travelling on the train and collapsed and died outside a toilet on the train as it approached Thap Sakae district in Prachuap Khiri Khan.
Meanwhile, 17 people -- comprising SRT staff and volunteers who assisted and recovered his body have also been placed in quarantine.
Among them are four people who are at "high risk" because they touched his body to check his pulse and also removed the corpse, Thap Sakae district chief Prida Sukchai said, before adding that they protected themselves with face masks and rubber gloves.
The incident has caused the Sawang Rungrueang Thammasathan foundation to which the rescuers are attached to shut down for at least 14 days.
Meanwhile, Dr Thawi Chotiphitthayasunon, who sits on the national communicable diseases committee, has called for a thorough inquest into Anan's death.
He cast doubt on the timeline during which the man had fallen ill before his death.
"It usually takes days, not hours, before Covid-19 patients succumb to the disease," Dr Thawi said.
"Almost all the deaths result from lung infections."
According to the Facebook of Abu Gibrel Jacob who claimed to know the dead man, Anan had suffered from diabetes since he was in his 30s.
