1st Thai infected by contagious coronavirus as China tries to lock down Wuhan

Suvarnabhumi Airport greets Chinese travelers with gifts on Wednesday in Bangkok. Photo: Suvarnabhumi International Airport
Suvarnabhumi Airport greets Chinese travelers with gifts on Wednesday in Bangkok. Photo: Suvarnabhumi International Airport

The first Thai national has been stricken by the contagious Chinese coronavirus, one of two new infections in the kingdom, as China seeks to limit travel from the the city where it originated.

A 73-year-old Thai woman who recently traveled to Wuhan and came down with fever upon her return home, and a 68-year-old male Chinese tourist detected with a fever Sunday at Suvarnabhumi International Airport made for the third and fourth infections found in Thailand since Jan. 8.

The woman is being held in isolation at a hospital in Nakhon Pathom province while the man is at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute. Two Chinese tourists previously confirmed to have the virus in Thailand have returned home.

The first infections were also detected in Hong Kong and Macau yesterday, and 17 people have now died from the SARS-like disease in China’s Hubei province, a month since the virus was first reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan. 

The number of confirmed cases in China has also soared past 500, the country’s National Health Commission announced today, as it puts Wuhan on lockdown starting today, shutting outbound flights and train services for the city of 11 million people in an attempt to contain the spread of the disease.

The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus, aka 2019-nCoV, was first reported in December and has been linked to a now-closed seafood market there. Within weeks, it spread to other parts of China, including Beijing and Shanghai.

Meeting yesterday in Geneva, the World Health Organization was not ready to declare a global health emergency. Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more evidence is required.

“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern on new #coronavirus is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence,” he said in a tweet. The meeting has been extended for another day.

Here’s a round-up of updates related to the virus in other parts of Asia:

In Hong Kong, a 56-year-old man tested positive during preliminary tests for the novel coronavirus, Hong Kong health officials said in the wee hours of Thursday, less than a day after they announced the city’s first confirmed case.

The latest confirmed patient visited Wuhan Jan. 10 and developed a fever Saturday. He had returned to Hong Kong on his own after flying from Wuhan to the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Yesterday, a 39-year-old male Chinese tourist tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Hong Kong as well. The man, who was isolated at the Princess Margaret Hospital, had arrived in Hong Kong from Wuhan on Tuesday via the high-speed rail from nearby Shenzhen.

He was traveling with four family members, who flew to Manila from Hong Kong on Wednesday. The family members reportedly showed no symptoms. 

In nearby Macau, a 52-year-old businesswoman from Wuhan was confirmed to have the pneumonia virus in the popular Chinese gambling city yesterday.

In Manila, Philippine authorities said they were awaiting the World Health Organization’s decision before deciding on whether to impose travel restrictions to and from China. 

Health Secretary Francisco Duque told local radio station DZMM today that the decision is “high on their agenda.”



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