Korean woman suspected of contacting coronavirus in Thailand

According to the KCDC, the patient, a 42-year-old South Korean woman, returned from a trip to Thailand on January 19 and started feeling chills on January 25. Her condition did not improve despite receiving treatment for several days. She was tested at a general hospital in Gwangju, 330 kilometres south of Seoul, on Monday with the test results coming up positive.
Dr Thanarak Phaliphat, deputy director-general of Department of Disease Control (DDC) said that his department was aware of the situation and had requested KCDC to submit copies of diagnostics and lab results of the patient to study and determine where and when the patient might have contracted the virus.
“Tourists who travel in droves to crowded tourist attractions have a high chance of unknowingly making contact with infected persons, therefore this case has a plausible probability that the patient was infected while travelling in Thailand along with tourists from China,” he said. “We will find out who had come into contact with this patient while she was in the country and invite them in for physical check-up, after which they will be closely monitored for signs of symptoms for a while.”
“This case does not change Thailand’s status as limited transmission area, as the risk of contacting infected persons in Thailand is still low,” he added.
As of February 4, Thailand recorded 19 cases of the new coronavirus virus infections with eight patients having recovered and discharged while 11 remained in hospitals. So far the DDC has put 492 persons in quarantine, comprising 449 walk-in patients and 43 suspected cases through the screening process at airports.
119 of those kept under observation had only common flu with no sign of coronavirus infection and were already discharged.