Thai tour guide 41st virus patient

A health official sprays disinfectant at the parliament in Bangkok on Friday, as Thailand records its 41st confirmed Covid-19 patient, a Thai tour guide who returned from South Korea. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

A Thai tour guide who returned recently from South Korea is the latest local novel coronavirus patient, raising the number of local confirmed cases to 41.

Dr Sukum Karnchanapimai, permanent secretary for health, said on Friday the 25-year-old man sought treatment for a fever and cough on Tuesday.

A test confirmed he was infected with novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and he was transferred to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province.

Health officials had already contacted two people in close contact with him and were looking for others in the tour group, and passengers on the same flight back to Thailand, Dr Sukum said.

Meanwhile, another Covid-19 patient has fully recovered and been discharged. The 30-year-old Chinese man had been treated at the Central Chest Institute of Thailand in Nonthaburi. His discharge raised the number of fully recovered patients to 28, Dr Sukum said.

Thirteen patients remained at hospitals, including two critically ill cases at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute. Both had already tested negative for Covid-19, and doctors were waiting for their physical condition to improve, Dr Sukum said.

From Jan 3 to Feb 27, patients under investigation numbered 2,437, of whom 1,446 recovered and were discharged. Most of them had seasonal influenza. The other 991 people remained at hospitals.

Global Covid-19 cases stood at 82,794 in 50 countries with 2,817 deaths. The figures included 78,514 cases and 2,747 deaths in China, according to the Public Health Ministry.