Hawaii returnee tests positive as doctor warns of second wave of Covid-19 infections
One new Covid-19 case was confirmed in state quarantine on Wednesday (July 29) with no deaths over a 24-hour period, said Dr Thanarak Palipat, deputy director general of the Disease Control Department.
Wednesday was the 65th day without a domestic case since May.
The latest Covid-19 case is a 26-year-old soldier who returned from Hawaii and has been in state quarantine in Chonburi since July 22. He tested positive on Monday and has high fever, runny nose and muscle ache. He is one of the 151 soldiers who had gone to Hawaii for training and stayed in camps with seven to eight people, some of whom have also tested positive.
As of Wednesday, the total number of confirmed cases in Thailand stood at 3,298 (361 testing positive in state quarantine). Of them 129 are under treatment, 3,111 have recovered and 58 have died.
Dr Thanarak said most of the patients were in the age group of 20 to 40 and lived in Bangkok and its metropolitan area.
Thailand’s skies have been closed since April 4, and the virus situation has been improving since. Of the imported cases so far, 125 were foreigners, 367 Thais returning home before the airports closed and 361 Thais in state quarantine.
Globally, the total number of confirmed cases has gone beyond 16.8 million, up by 248,000 with 10.4 million recovered and 663,000 dead. Thailand is ranked 106th in terms of the number of cases, while the US still tops the list with 4.49 million Covid-19 infections, followed by Brazil 2.48 million and India 1.53 million.
Citing the second wave of infections in Vietnam, China, Australia and Hong Kong, Thanarak said: “The government has made preparations. Practically, we can’t expect the number to remain zero forever but are aiming for there to be a low impact on both health security and economy by containing hotspots and suspected cases with good cooperation from the Thai public.”
He also voiced concern about illegal border crossing.
Pointing out that people without a mask in crowded areas can get infected within five to 15 minutes if they happen to be close to a patient,
Thanarak said department stores should return to strictly imposing control measures – ThaiChana check-in, temperature screening, ensuring people wear masks and keep their hands clean.
