2 foreigners in same hotel as the Koh Samui woman test positive for Covid-19

Officials are reviewing the use of a Samut Prakan hotel, just outside Bangkok, as a quarantine facility, after 3 foreign nationals staying there tested positive for Covid-19. The first was a 57 year old woman who developed symptoms of the virus after she had completed 14 days’ quarantine and had returned to her home on the island of Koh Samui. It’s understood the woman has both Thai and French citizenship; she was born in Thailand and is married to a French national.

Yesterday, Sophon Iamsirithavorn from the General Communicable Diseases Division, confirmed 2 more foreigners staying at the same hotel, in the central province of Samut Prakan, also tested positive. All 3 are now receiving hospital treatment, but Sophon says officials are still not sure how they became infected or if their cases are even linked. He adds that the hotel, named in a Bangkok Post report as the Siam Mandarina, may not meet the required standard of an alternative state quarantine facility.

Thai PBS World reports that the hotel has been thoroughly disinfected by health authorities after traces of Covid-19 were found on equipment in the hotel gym. It’s understood the Disease Control Department is in talks with Samut Prakan health officials regarding a possible suspension of the hotel as a quarantine ‘ASQ’ facility.

Officials are also deciding whether to release those currently quarantining in the hotel once they’ve completed their 14 days, or whether they should be required to install a tracking app on their phones or other means to trace them post-quarantine. Tests are also being carried out on each of the 3 patients to determine if there is a match between the virus strains in each of them.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World | Bangkok Post