Boxing fever continues to add to virus count (updated)
Fifty new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed on Friday (March 20), taking the total number of infections in Thailand since the outbreak over the 300 mark, Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said.
Thailand has 50 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection – not 60 as reported by the Health Ministry on Thursday (March 19) – causing the total to be revised to 322.
Dr Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoen, director-general of the ministry’s Department of Disease Control, said on Friday that 41 of the new infections were picked up at boxing stadiums and entertainment venues.
Forty-one are connected to cluster cases, he said. Eighteen people had attended stadium boxing matches, five had been to entertainment venues and 12 had had close contact with others previously confirmed as infected.
This last group includes a six-month-old child and six adults in Pattani and Songkhla who had attended a religious ceremony in Malaysia.
In all, 72 of the most recently confirmed cases originated at boxing stadiums and 62 at entertainment venues.
Six of the newest cases are people who have also just returned from abroad – two Thais back from Britain, a Thai student and a Thai civil servant, and two Myanmar nationals.
Two more – a tour guide and a security guard – had had close contact with foreigners.
The source of infection in three other cases is still being investigated.
The most recent recovery is a 36-year-old French visitor who was treated at the Central Chest Institute of Thailand and has returned home.
The virus toll on Friday stood at 322, with 278 under treatment, 43 recovered and one death.
Suwannachai said 76.7 per cent of the confirmed cases were found in Bangkok and 66 per cent were male.
Most of the victims have been 30-39 years old, leading to concerns they might pass on the virus to others of more vulnerable stages of life.
Authorities have been able to contact only 55 of the estimated thousands of people watching boxing matches at Bangkok’s Rajadamnern Stadium on the day the virus circulated in the crowd.
Everyone who was there or at Lumphini Stadium two-four weeks ago is advised to be tested.
Deputy Health Minister Satit Pitutecha said 1,600 beds are available at private and military hospitals should the crisis continue to deepen and another 450-500 at hotels and in private residences whose owners have volunteered to help.
