Thai health officials announced Thailand’s 34th case of infection from the Wuhan virus this morning.
That infection is the first reported case of a medical worker in Thailand contracting the Covid-19 virus from a patient.
The director-general of the Thai Department of Disease Control, Dr Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchia, told a news conference this morning (February 15th) the latest case is that of a 35-year-old female medical worker.
“She had previously taken care of infected patients and was on the monitored list. When she displayed symptoms such as fever and respiratory abnormality, she was immediately quarantined at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute,” Dr. Suwanchai said.
While this is the first case of a medical worker contracting the coronavirus in Thailand, according to a report from Chinese officials on Tuesday, China has a much larger case load with more than 1,700 health care workers in China currently infected with the virus.
1,502 of these health care workers are in badly stricken Hubei province. Six of them have since died.
Included in the six dead is Dr. Li Wenliang, the opthamologist that first attempted to warn fellow medical workers about the new coronavirus in late December. He was subsequently called to a local Wuhan police station where he was told to stop spreading rumours.
The 34-year-old Dr. Li contracted the virus himself a few weeks later and died last week.
According to Caixin, the large number of medical staff infected in Chinese hospitals and clinics is causing cross-infections as they infect each other and patients arriving for treatment.
As for news about the medical worker infected by the coronavirus in Thailand, Dr. Suwanchai said all precautions are being taken in Thai hospitals to ensure the infection does not continue to spread, with strict guidelines for virus prevention and control measures being followed.
Thailand was recently named the 6th best country in the world for healthcare by CEO World magazine, and for the country’s ability to handle a viral outbreak.
