THAILAND’S oldest and largest hospital Siriraj this evening (Jan. 18) confirmed reports that some of its medical personnel had got infected with coronavirus with random testing of nearly a hundred staff members having been undertaken, Siam Rath newspaper reported.
Dr. Prasit Wattanapa, the dean of Siriraj’s Faculty of Medicine, will be giving the details at a press conference tomorrow.
However it was discovered that a staff member of the Department of Pathology had got infected with Covid-19, catching the disease from a nearby community where more than one person had fallen sick.
Subsequently, 16 people with high-risk close contact were examined with four diagnosed with URI (upper respiratory infection) symptoms. Three were later found to be infected with this disease while the four one suffers from fatigue and low oxygen level and he will undergo a repeat test. These three infected staff members have been admitted to the hospital for treatment.
There were 12 other asymptomatic cases with one found to be infected and he is being called in for treatment. The others have been placed under 14-day quarantine.
Altogether 60-80 staff members of the Pathology Department were randomly tested.
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Top: Concept image of coronavirus. Photo: Siam Rath
