Tests on concertgoers, US soldiers come back negative
All tests on concertgoers and soldiers at the centre of two Covid-19 scares came back negative today, relieving fears of a fresh outbreak.
The tests were conducted on 2,582 people from a packed-out luk thung concert in Nakhon Si Thammarat and on 110 US soldiers visiting Thailand for a military exercise, said the Department of Disease Control.
Department director-general Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai revealed the results from Nakhon Si Thammarat, where photos of the packed-out concert venue with few people wearing masks had sparked uproar on social media. Tests conducted on August 5 on 2,583 suspects (including 1,930 concertgoers) had all come back negative, said Suwannachai. About 12 per cent of those tested had Covid-19-like symptoms but none was infected. As a result Nakhon Si Thammarat is still officially listed as free of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, 32 among a batch of 110 visiting US soldiers tested negative after arriving from Japan, where their base has been hit by a Covid-19 outbreak. They will be tested again after three to five days but must meanwhile remain in mandatory 14-day quarantine at their hotels – the Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort, The Idle Residence, and Conrad Bangkok. The remaining US soldiers, from Guam, had already tested negative.
