Health officials said today they are evaluating a Thai man suspected of being infected with the coronavirus that has been spreading globally ever since it first broke out last month in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The unidentified man was under isolation while he underwent evaluation at a metro Bangkok hospital and doctors are awaiting lab results, the Disease Control Department said today. It comes after two infected travelers from Wuhan were intercepted and put in quarantine upon arrival at Bangkok airports. A British man who took ill while on holiday yesterday was confirmed not to carry the virus.
In other parts of Southeast Asia, health monitoring measures are being ramped up at airports as the new strain of coronavirus spreads through the region and world, with more than 400 cases now reportedly confirmed in China as well as a first in the United States.
Philippine health officials told local reporters yesterday they are awaiting lab test results for a 5-year-old boy who recently arrived in Cebu City from Wuhan to study English. The boy tested positive for an unidentified strain of coronavirus, and samples have been sent to Australia for further testing.
Singapore expanded temperature checks at airports for passengers arriving from Wuhan to include all passengers flying in from any parts of China. Those showing symptoms will be isolated as a precaution.
More Indonesian airports, including Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, have installed temperature scannings for international arrivals, authorities announced yesterday.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, also known as the 2019-nCoV, was first reported Dec. 31 and was traced to a now-shuttered seafood market there. Within weeks, the virus has spread to other parts of China, including Beijing and Shanghai.
Nine people have since died in the country’s Hubei province, and the number of reported confirmed cases in China leaped from 291 to 440 today. Experts in Hong Kong have said the number could be much higher, perhaps more than a thousand.
Anti-virus measures reinforced as Hong Kong experts warn Wuhan illness may be worse than thought
Chinese authorities also announced yesterday that the coronavirus is contagious and can be spread between humans.
The World Health Organization has called for an emergency meeting in Geneva today to discuss whether the new virus constitutes a global health emergency.
Manila
Philippine health officials told local reporters yesterday they are investigating a suspected case of the Wuhan pneumonia virus involving a 5-year-old Chinese boy who had arrived in Cebu City from Wuhan on Jan. 12 to study English there.
The boy, who showed symptoms such as fever, throat irritation and cough, was hospitalized on the same day. Test results subsequently showed he tested positive for an unidentified strain of coronavirus.
Test samples have been sent to Australia for further testing, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
Singapore
Singapore has expanded its health monitoring measures in Changi Airport to include temperature checks for all passengers arriving from any part of China, not just Wuhan. Passengers showing symptoms of pneumonia will also be isolated as a precaution.
The seventh suspected case involving a 44-year-old Singapore woman tested negative of the novel coronavirus.
Singapore woman quarantined amid fears Chinese New Year may spread deadly Wuhan virus
Indonesia
Authorities of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport told reporters there yesterday that thermal scanners have been installed at two of the airport’s international arrival gates as part of measures to monitor the spread of the coronavirus into the popular tourist destination.
The domestic Sultan Thaha Airport in Jambi is following suit.
“Sultan Thaha Airport is only a domestic airport. However, passengers [from outside the country] can come here after transiting in Cengkareng [Soekarno-Hatta International Airport] or Kuala Namu [in Medan, North Sumatra],” general manager Muhammad Hendra was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
World
The United States confirmed today its first case of the Wuhan pneumonia virus involving a Washington state man in his 30s. The unnamed man had visited an area near Wuhan landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Jan. 15, two days before health screenings began at U.S. airports. The man sought medical treatment on Jan. 19 after showing symptoms.
His case was referred to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where test results confirmed the virus on Monday.
The man is being isolated at the Providence Regional Medical Center, in Washington state.
Confirmed cases as of 9:45am on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020:
China: 440 (9 deaths)
Thailand: 2
US: 1
South Korea: 1
Japan: 1
Taiwan: 1
Related:
No Wuhan virus in British tourist recovering in Bangkok
Anti-virus measures reinforced as Hong Kong experts warn Wuhan illness may be worse than thought
3 Boracay-bound Chinese undergo tests to prevent spread of deadly coronavirus
No Wuhan virus in British tourist recovering in Bangkok
Singapore woman quarantined amid fears Chinese New Year may spread deadly Wuhan virus
Reader Interactions