The Public Health Ministry is launching a probe to find out how a doctor in Maha Sarakham became infected with Covid-19 and died from the disease yesterday.
Panya: Treated Covid patients
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the timeline of the patients who visited a clinic run by Dr Panya Hanphanitphan, 66, in Maha Sarakham prior to his death will be reviewed.
At least three people who caught Covid-19 had sought treatment at the clinic and came into contact with the doctor in January, reports said. "We need to find out if the patients had already contracted the virus at the time of their calling at Dr Panya's clinic," Mr Anutin said.
Mr Anutin said he has assigned public health permanent secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit to lead a team on the ground to gather information about the clinic's patients.
He offered his condolences to Dr Panya's family and said the physician's death highlighted the critical need for frontline medical workers to be among the first people to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
"This is a lesson for our medical teams that they must take all necessary precautions and protect themselves," he said, adding the ministry has supplied them with protective gear and equipment.
Dr Panya became the first Thai physician to die from Covid-19 after he passed away at Srinagrind Hospital in Khon Kaen at 1.19am yesterday.
Dr Panya was the 18th Covid-19 patient recorded in the northeastern province since the second wave of the coronavirus started in mid-December.
He treated three infected patients at his clinic on Jan 13, 14 and 25 before he came down with the disease. His first test on Jan 29 was negative, but a second test on Feb 1 came back positive.
Dr Panya was among 36 medical workers infected with Covid-19 since Dec 15, according to the Department of Disease Control.
They include four doctors, one dentist, nine nurses, and three pharmacists, the department said.