The latest blood test on a woman from Loei suspected of having Covid-19 confirmed she was previously infected with the deadly virus and now has Covid-19 antibodies, according to the director of Ramathibodi Hospital.
The hospital has ordered public health officials to test 24 people who were in close contact with her.
Dr Surasak Leela-Udomlipi, director of the Ramathibodi Hospital, yesterday told a press conference that the hospital conducted a RT-PCR test on her on Tuesday that returned a positive result.
Two more tests were administered on the same day and yesterday and both came back negative. The hospital then conducted another blood test on her and the result came back positive.
"This means she was once infected with the disease as we have found the virus antibodies in her body. We can conclude she has already recovered from the disease. But she needs to stay at the hospital for a while and await the results of viral culture testing", he said, adding that this test is done to prove whether the virus in her can spread to others.
According to the disease investigation team from the Department of Disease Control (DDC), the 35-year-old woman from Loei who had returned from the United Arab Emirates stayed in a state quarantine facility in Chon Buri province from June 24 to July 9. After completing her mandatory quarantine, a test showed she was free of the disease so she went home on July 9 and was in contact with five people.
She visited friends at Pak Chom Hospital in July and had close contact with six other people. She went to a restaurant on Aug 12 or 13 and had contact with three people.
She then stayed at the Buddy Place Hotel in Bangkok on Aug 12 and was in close contact with four others (two friends and two housekeepers).
She went to the hospital on Aug 18 and had contact with six people, comprising one taxi driver, three medical staff and two friends.
She was later admitted to the Chakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute in Samut Prakan on Wednesday.
"We are going to take those 24 close contact people in for laboratory testing and the results are going to come out shortly. However, if the 104 people who stayed in the hotel feel unhappy with the case, they can come to test for the virus as well," says Dr Walairat Chaifoo, chief of the Epidemiology Division of the Department of Disease Control.
The Ministry of Public Health has advised people not to panic and that the venues the Loei woman visited can operate as usual.
Ramathibodi Hospital said it is quite sure the woman was infected abroad, and not in Thailand.