17 people test positive for Covid-19 in quarantine
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Sunday reported 17 new cases in state quarantine facilities and a border area checkpoint over a 24-hour period.
All the cases were Thais and foreigners coming from foreign countries.
They included a Thai woman, 69, and an Indian woman, 72, coming from the United States via Taiwan; a Thai woman, 54, and a Swiss man, 57, from Switzerland; a Pakistani man, 45, and a British man, 71, from their home countries; a Thai man, 22, from Japan; a Thai businesswoman, 20, from Bahrain (a re-active case ater testing positive on November 21); four Thai women aged 19-30 working at an entertainment venue and returning from Myanmar who tested positive at a local quarantine facility.
Meanwhile, five women, 22-35, who worked at an entertainment venue meet PUI criteria for Covid-19 when they were passing through a border checkpoint and were taken to a hospital where they were later found positive.
Meanwhile, eight patients have recovered and been discharged.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand increased to 4,209 (1,216 in state quarantine), 226 are in hospital, 3,923 have recovered and been discharged and 60 people have died.
According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Sunday, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 72.1 million (up by 635,548), 50.49 million have recovered, 20 million are active cases (106,813 in severe condition) and 1.61 million have died (up by 10,327).
Thailand ranks 151st for most cases in the world, while the US has the most number with 16.53 million, followed by India 9.86 million, Brazil 6.88 million, Russia 2.62 million and France 2.36 million.
Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, urged all Thai people who are actively aware of the virus to continue wearing masks and inform officers about illegal entry of people and suspected infections. Many cases were caught quickly, which prevented them from spreading.
He debunked rumours of infected people entering the Big Mountain 2020 Music Festival in Chiang Mai, as a woman, 43, who has myasthenia gravis, and seven of her contacts had tested negative. He said the music event was too crowded while the organisers ignored public health officers' recommendation, leading to the cancellation of the event by using the power of the provincial health office and governor.
“We didn’t want to cancel the event. However, high risk was seen from people staying in a close group and some didn’t wear a mask,” said Dr Opas.