Su-ngai Kolok Hospital in the southern province of Narathiwat has placed 26 medical staff into self-quarantine after they came into contact with a positive covid-19 patient.
The staff, who were all correctly wearing PPE equipment and following hospital measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus according to the hospital Director, Inn Chandang, have bee categorized as “patients under investigation” by the Thai Government.
All 26 hospital staff had come into contact with a 45-year-old man who tested positive for the virus after initially going to the hospital to receive treatment for pneumonia.
The man had traveled to Malaysia for a religious ceremony but tested negative for covid-19 upon his return. This prompted health officials to suspect that he had contracted the infection locally.
Due to this, the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Chatchai Promlert, has ordered the lockdown of the man’s residential area, tambon Waeng, in the Waeng district of Narathiwat Province.
The medical staff from the hospital will remain in quarantine to protect 800 other health workers on the premises while the tambon will remain classified as a “high-risk” area for now.
The man has been admitted to Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Hospital and is in a stable condition.
Source: Bangkok Post
