Thailand Reports 836 New Cases, Brings Total Beyond 20K

Thailand has reported 836 new cases Tuesday afternoon, bringing the country’s total cases to 20,618. Two new deaths were also reported, hiking up the death toll to 79.

According to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, this number covers 819 cases of local infection. 710 domestic cases were found through the government’s ongoing active testing in the provinces affected by the second wave of the pandemic.

The rest of the locally transmitted cases were reported from hospitals that admitted the patients.

The Kingdom also found 17 new cases from people who have arrived through the Kingdom’s international airports.

Dr. Taweesilp Visanuyothin, CCSA spokesperson, the two deaths involved two people of elderly age.

One of the deaths was a 75-year-old Thai woman in Samut Sakhon province, the epicenter of the second wave that broke out in the middle of December.

The victim tested for COVID-19 on January 25, after which she was found to be positive for the COVID-19. Dr. Taweesilp that, at that time, the woman exhibited no symptoms and had quarantined herself at home.

The test results arrived on Thursday, after which she was admitted to Samut Sakhon hospital for treatment. She had already complained of fatigue and shortness of breath. Her condition did not improve, and led to her death on Saturday, January 30.

The woman was the spouse of a previous case of infection.

Dr. Taweesilp urged the public to look at the death of the Thai woman as a “lesson” on adhering to public safety and health measures so they can avoid getting infected by the virus.

The second death was a 68-year-old man who visited Samut Sakhon in December and spent time at a karaoke outlet in Pinklao in Bangkok.

He started exhibiting symptoms on December 30 and undertook a COVID-19 test. He was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 on January 7. Despite spending almost a month being treated in a private hospital, the man experienced complications and died on Monday, February 1st.

The man had diabetes and terminal kidney failure aside from the COVID-19. He also had a kidney transplant in the past, Dr. Taweesilp said.

Dr. Taweesilp said that Samut Sakhon remains as a maximum control zone, or a red zone. 688 cases were found through active testing in the province. Of these, 629 patients were migrant workers from Myanmar. 59 Thais were also found positive for the virus in Samut Sakhon.

99 cases in hospitals were also reported by medical institutions in Samut Sakhon. These involved 76 Burmese migrants, 22 locals and one Cambodian.

Active testing in Bangkok also came up with 7 cases. Nonthaburi and Samut Songkhram reported one and two cases, respectively.

As for the imported cases, Dr. Taweesilp said that 3 cases came from Switzerland, 3 from the United Kingdom, 2 from Canada, 3 from Malaysia, 2 from the United States and 1 each from Nigeria, India, France and Denmark.

Thailand’s recovery rate is at 64.6%. 703 patients had been discharged from the hospital in the past 24 hours while 7,158 remain admitted for treatment.

Source:
BangkokPost