9 more Covid-19 patients, all returnees

9 more Covid-19 patients, all returnees

People in need because of the Covid-19 lockdown receive help from the Thai Red Cross Society at Wat Pathum Wanaram in Bangkok on Wednesday. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)
People in need because of the Covid-19 lockdown receive help from the Thai Red Cross Society at Wat Pathum Wanaram in Bangkok on Wednesday. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)

The government on Wednesday reported nine new coronavirus disease patients, all returnees staying in state quarantine facilities.

Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said on Wednesday morning the new cases included six male students, aged 23-33, who returned from Saudi Arabia through the Padang Besar border checkpoint in Sadao district of Songkhla on Sunday.

The students boarded a repatriation flight operated by Malaysia and landed in Kuala Lumpur before entering the southern province on a bus, Dr Taweesilp said.

Three of them were quarantined in Songkhla and the other three in their home provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. They tested positive for the virus on Monday. Four of them had a fever, cough and lung  phlegm. The others had no symptoms.

Their return through Padang Besar would require the temporary closure of the border checkpoint for sanitisation, Dr Taweesilp said.

Two other new patients are Thai men aged 18 and 27 who returned from the United States on May 12. They were quarantined in Chon Buri province. They had no symptoms but tested positive on Tuesday.

"These two cases had been quarantined since May 12 and been asymptomatic. They were found with the infection only on their final confirmation test on the day they were to be released from state quarantine," Dr Taweesilp said.

"This prompts us to think that 14-day quarantine may not be enough for some people. However, we have not extended the quarantine period from 14 days yet."

The other new patient is a Thai masseur, 34, who returned from Qatar last Friday and was quarantined in Samut Prakan province. He had a fever and lost his sense of smell. He tested positive for the disease on Monday.

"This is another case of an infected masseur. Service providers with physical contact must be aware that they are at risk," Dr Taweesilp said.

The nine new cases raised the total to 3,054 of which 2,931, or 96%, had recovered, with two patients released over the previous 24 hours. Sixty-six patients were at hospitals. The death toll remained unchanged at 57.

There were no new local infections, Dr Taweesilp said.

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