BANGKOK(NNT) – Thailand is at maximum alert level to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus in the country.
All provinces are now following disease control protocols, especially at border crossings where many Chinese visitors continue to arrive, such as at the Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai. Meanwhile, the authorities in Phuket are ready to screen some 6,000 passengers onboard a cruise ship docking off Pathong beach.
Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Chalermpong Sukontapol has revealed the latest update on novel coronavirus surveillance in Phuket province, saying that there have been 19 suspected cases since 5th January, with 12 testing negative and being discharged from the hospital, and seven now waiting for test results. The seven patients are now receiving treatment in hospitals in the province.
Phuket province will be receiving an influx of visitors today and tomorrow as two large cruise ships are calling on the island. The first cruise ship is bringing in 2,000 passengers today, while the second ship will have 4,000 passengers onboard. These passengers will be subjected to strict health screening procedures, exactly as conducted at Phuket International Airport.
In the northeastern Nong Bua Lamphu province, the provincial public health official said today that one patient had suspected symptoms, and is now isolated in a negative pressure chamber at Non Sang hospital.
The patient is a postgraduate student who travelled from Wuhan, China. Confirmation tests to see whether this patient is actually infected with novel coronavirus will take three days, while two persons in close contact with him have been diagnosed with influenza A, and have been treated accordingly.
In Nong Khai province bordering Laos, Provincial Governor Ronnachai Chitwiset has observed health control operations at the first Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge in the province’s city district, and at nearby provincial health control office.
Here, officials have stepped up the health screening protocols, installing thermal cameras to scan the body temperature of Chinese nationals passing through the border into Thailand, most of whom are travelling in a group tour. There have been no other travellers from Wuhan passing through the border at the Thailand-Laos Friendship Bridge in recent days.
