The Department of Disease Control has been tracking down people who had close contact with three men who tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in Japan from Thailand.
Director-general Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said on Friday that there all told, five people travelling from Thailand to Japan had been found infected with the coronavirus. Two of them had been reported earlier — a 24-year-old Thai man and a 47-year-old Japanese man.
The three other cases were more recent — a 64-year-old Japanese man, a 21-year-old Thai male student and a 44-year-old Thai man.
The 64-year-old was Covid-19 patient No.730 in Japan. The general manager of a company in Bang Na district of Bangkok, he was living alone at a condominium in the Sukhumvit area. He had earlier travelled abroad in January.
On Aug 17, he went to stay at a hotel in the Sukhumvit area and then left for Japan on Aug 20. A saliva test on his arrival at Haneda airport was positive for Covid-19.
A subsequent investigation found he had been in close contact with 76 people in the Bangkok area. They were people who worked at his company, at the hotel and the condominium where he lived. Twenty-two were considered to be a high-risk group, and the 54 others low-risk. Tests on samples from 50 of them had already come back negative, Dr Suwannachai said.
The 21-year-old student was patient No.770 in Japan. He lived in Khlong Sam Wa district of Bangkok and went to Japan to continue his studies. He tested negative at Ramathibodi Hospital on Aug 27 before flying to Japan. He arrived in Japan on Aug 29 and a saliva test there was positive.
An investigation determined there were no people at high risk of infection from contact with him.
The third case, the 44-year-old Thai man, was patient No.790 in Japan. He lived in Suwannaphum district of Roi Et province and went to Japan every three months to buy auto parts.
He flew to Japan on Sept 1 and a saliva test on arrival was positive for Covid-19, Dr Suwannachai said.
The man had been on Bang Na-Trat Road and in Roi Et over the 14 days before he travelled to Japan. He tested negative on Aug 28 or 29 before leaving for Japan with a friend.
There were four people in Roi Et who were close to him — his grandmother, wife, son and a niece. None of them suffered any respiratory problems.
Officials were tracking down and testing other people who had contact with him, the department chief said.
