BANGKOK, Sept 4 — Thailand reported its first local transmission of Covid-19 in 100 days after a prison inmate tested positive at a jail in Bangkok, said a public health official.
The 37-year-old man tested positive on Wednesday during a routine test. He was brought to a hospital in Bangkok for treatment.
So far, all his close contacts tested negative for Covid-19.
Deputy director of the Correction Department, Weerakit Hanparipan said the man, a former nightclub DJ, had not travelled abroad or been in close contact with any positive patients.
“He was tested positive during routine screening as all new prison inmates must undergo a 14-day quarantine and Covid-19 test before imprisonment. He had also not been in contact with any old prison inmates,” he said at a press conference, here, yesterday.
Meanwhile, Dr. Walailak Chaifu, director of Epidemiology at Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, said the man was tested positive for Covid-19 on Sept 2. Both lab test results were positive.
“A total of 36 inmates including two inmate volunteers who had close contact with the man tested negative for Covid-19. They are undergoing a 14-day quarantine now,” she said.
She added that more than 25 people, including his five family members, lawyers, Correction Department officers and other inmates at the courtroom, as well as those sharing the vehicle to the court on Aug 26 tested negative. All of them are undergoing compulsory quarantine.
Meanwhile, Bangkok’s Disease Control Investigation team is tracing the man’s other close contacts including visitors at his three workplaces, house, Correction Department and court to curb the spread of Covid-19.
All his workplaces were ordered to close for three days for disinfection.
— Bernama
