BANGKOK, Jan 19 (TNA) – A messenger of Siriraj Hospital contracted COVID-19 but the infection had nothing to do with its medical treatment system, said its chief.
Dr Prasit Watanapa, dean of the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital at Mahidol University, said the infected person was a messenger at Adulyadejvikrom Building and had contracted the disease outside the hospital.
The employee had contracted COVID-19 from a community and sought a test at the hospital on Jan 14. Four people had been in close contact with the employee and three of them tested positive for the disease. The four infected people were admitted to the hospital for treatment, the dean said.
Besides, 50 other people at medium risks of infection were tested and two of them were confirmed with the disease. The total cases from the employee were six.
The patients and all at-risk people would be tested again on days 7 and 14 that were within the incubation period of the disease after the infection was found. The 48 people who tested negative were put in home quarantine, Dr Prasit said.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 Information Center reported 171 new COVID-19 cases in the country over the past 24 hours and the total rose to 12,594. The death toll stood at 70.
The new cases consisted of 33 cases confirmed in normal surveillance and health service systems, 125 detected through active case finding in communities and 13 quarantined arrivals. (TNA)
