2 Indian tourists left hospital for Bangkok after positive COVID test: health officials

Ankit Sejwal, 30, and Preeti Panwar, 32, went missing Tuesday from the Vibharam Laemchabang Hospital in Chonburi. Photo: Chonburi Provincial Public Health Office
Ankit Sejwal, 30, and Preeti Panwar, 32, went missing Tuesday from the Vibharam Laemchabang Hospital in Chonburi. Photo: Chonburi Provincial Public Health Office

Health officials are asking the public for any information about two Indian nationals they fear could be spreading COVID-19 in Bangkok.

Weeks after the nation plunged into a cold panic over an infected Israeli man on the loose, Chonburi’s provincial health office announced Tuesday afternoon that two tourists who had tested positive for COVID-19 had left a hospital there and were believed on their way to Bangkok.

Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of Ankit Sejwal, 30, and Preeti Panwar, 32, are encouraged to contact the Vibharam Laemchabang Hospital at 03-300-9800. 

Update: Found: Missing Indian tourists bailed on Chonburi for treatment in Bangkok

They initially tested negative upon arrival under the so-called Test & Go travel program, but then a RT-PCR test came back positive at the hospital.

Late last month, a media-fed frenzy erupted after Ohad Baruch did a runner after testing positive. He was eventually fined after going on the lam for six days. His initial RT-PCR test came back positive with traces of the Omicron variant, but after six days on the run, he came up negative in three tests taken after he turned himself in on Koh Samui.

More than 1,000 cases of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Thailand, a number likely to burst in coming days following the New Year’s holidays.

Otherwise the daily case count has continued to taper off, with 3,091 new cases logged today, as well as 12 deaths. Just over 2.2 million infections and 21,750 deaths have been recorded since the pandemic began.



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