Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Officials say no cause for alarm as 2 Thai women test positive for Covid

Published

Thursday, August 20, 2020 09:43

PHOTO: Wikimedia

Health officials are downplaying any risks following reports that 2 Thai women have tested positive for Covid-19. It’s understood both women were sent home after completing 14 days’ quarantine following their repatriation from the United Arab Emirates.

One woman, a 34 year old from the north-eastern province of Chaiyaphum, was tested on June 5 and returned an “inconclusive” result, indicating there was a residual amount of the virus in her system. A second test showed a negative result, after which she was allowed to return home. However, on August 13, she visited Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok to get a fit-to-fly certificate in order to return overseas. On this occasion, she tested positive for the virus.

Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai from the Department of Disease Control says the woman had been sent home as there were only residual traces of Covid-19 in her system, meaning she could not infect others.

“We found that the virus in her system was decaying and she couldn’t transmit the disease. It is normal to find a case like this because the dead or inactive virus cells can stay in the body for around 3 months, according to many international studies.”

He adds that the patient did not contract the virus in Thailand.

“She got the virus while living abroad. Moreover, people living close to her house should not panic because the chance of disease transmission is zero.”

The second woman, a 35 year old from Loei province, also in the north-east of the country, returned to Thailand on June 24 and spent 14 days in state quarantine. After testing negative for Covid-19 twice, she was sent home. She returned to Bangkok to obtain a fit-to-fly certificate at Ramathibodi Hospital, where she too tested positive.

She has been admitted for monitoring at the hospital but is currently asymptomatic. Suwannachai says the DDC is still trying to confirm where this patient contracted the virus, with officials being sent to her home to check for any further infections.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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News Categories: Coronavirus (Covid-19)

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5 Comments

Perceville Smithers

Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 12:47 pm

Glad to hear they’re recovering with no appearant complications.

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Smilemax

Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 6:45 pm

As a newspaper l think you should bring up the question
Why are 2 woman going back after successful repatriation most probably with a cost for the government?
Especially into a country from where still new Thais are repatriatod…

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- Perceville Smithers
  
  Friday, August 21, 2020 at 1:14 pm
  
  Probably to do whatever she has to to collect her salary.
  
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Yuri Saveliev

Monday, August 24, 2020 at 10:14 am

There is a growing body of scientific evidence that small evaporation residues of Covid-carrying droplets produced by coughing, sneezing, and toilet flushing may stay in the air for hours. Poorly designed air conditioning systems, especially on ducted air, may promote spreading the virus like it happened in heavily populated apartments in Melbourne, thus starting the second wave of Covid-19. Some quarantine facilities and hotels may have this problem as well. While no building inspection protocols are established yet (in Australia, some scientists urge to develop them ASAP), I would recommend to wear a face mask even inside the building, especially where the windows cannot be opened. I am working on an apparatus that removes pathogens and allergens from the enclosed air.

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Yuri Saveliev

Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 12:41 pm

I would highly recommend to avoid hotel rooms with permanently closed windows. You can google “Lidia Morawska Australia” and read. More than 200 scientists wrote a petition to very slow and bureaucratic WHO. Finally, WHO agreed to save their face. Another Covid-19 disaster happened in Germany, where more than thousand workers in not ventilated refrigerating meet processing rooms got infected. The social distancing rules did not work in this environment. Be careful, the so-called zero local infection in Thailand may be a political fake. It is apparently low, thanks to the Thai government policies, but at huge costs to the economy. During one month, Myanmar reported two Covid-19 cases from their citizens coming back home from Thailand (mizzima.com). I am not a politician, I am aerosol scientist. My humble advice is to be very vigilant, do not trust people with high positions and uniforms. They know almost nothing.

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Maya Taylor

A seasoned writer, with a degree in Creative Writing. Over ten years' experience in producing blog and magazine articles, news reports and website content.

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