More returnees from Mideast infected

The government on Thursday reported five more cases of new coronavirus disease, all quarantined returnees.

Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, also said the country had now been free of new local Covid-19 infection for 45 days.

The four new cases were people working abroad who returned from the United Arab Emirates on July 2. Three were men aged 38, 40 and 54 years, and the other a woman aged 42. They were quarantined in Bangkok and Chon Buri province and tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, but showed no symptoms.

The other new case is a male student aged 22 who returned from Egypt on July 8 and had partially lost his sense of smell and taste. He tested positive for the disease the same day.

“Lately, patients rarely are showing symptoms, partly because they are of working age,” Dr Taweesilp said.

So far, 1,223 Thais have returned from the UAE and 21 of them had contracted the disease; 800 people returned from Egypt, and seven of them were infected.

Total confirmed cases rose to 3,202, 3,085 of whom had recovered including 11 patients discharged on Wednesday. Fifty-nine patients remained at hospitals.The death toll had stopped at 58.

Globally, Covid-19 cases rose by 214,892 to 12.16 million with 552,029 deaths, up by 3,428. The United States had the most cases at 3.16 million, up by 61,848, and the most death at 134,862, up by 890.

“New cases in excess of 200,000 per day are occurring more frequently… The global situation remains critical, so it is definitely not possible to say that we are safe,” Dr Taweesilp said.