BANGKOK, Jan 22 (TNA) — Health authorities have found two more patients of the mysterious novel coronavirus, a Thai and a Chinese visitor.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the Thai patient was a 73-year-old woman who had visited the Chinese city of Wuhan. She was the third patient of the disease in Thailand and was recovering at Nakhon Pathom Hospital in Nakhon Pathom province.
The fourth patient was a Chinese tourist aged 68 who arrived and detected at Suvarnabhumi airport on Jan 19. The visitor was being treated at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province, Mr Anutin said.
According to him, the first two patients are Chinese visitors aged 61 and 74. They already returned to China. International travels have not been banned to control the disease.
Dr Thawee Chotepitayasunon, advisor to the Department of Disease Control, said 321 patients of the novel coronavirus were found in Wuhan, Shangai, Beijing and Shenzhen and nine of them died. All of them either were in or visited Wuhan.
He said screenings of people from Wuhan were intensified as the city had a population of 11 million. The incubation period of the disease lasted 2-14 days. The symptoms of patients in Thailand were less severe than those found in China, Dr Thawee said. (TNA)
