The post, uploaded onto Facebook by “Konnika Jampaburee” on Monday (Jan 27), showed a photo of a person covered with a white sheet being wheeled out of the airport and loaded into an ambulance.
Along with the photo were the words in Thai, “One death at Phuket International Airport #Chinese”.
The post soon went viral on Thai social media channels.
Dr Sutsinee Sakswut, the airport doctor on duty on Monday, confirmed to The Phuket News today (Jan 29) that nobody had died from the “Wuhan flu” at the airport.
“The post is wrong,” she said.
Dr Sutsinee explained that around midday on Monday, a medical officer at the airport was informed by an immigration officer that a female tourist had fainted in the Arrival Hall of the International Terminal.
“When the officer arrived, the tourist was sitting on a chair and surrounded by her relatives. She looked tired and pale. She also explained that she felt numb, especially along the left side of her body,” Dr Sutsinee said.
“After the officer confirmed that she had a normal heartbeat but high blood pressure, she was taken to the medical centre at the airport for further examination.”
Dr Sutsinee explained that at the centre she determined that the tourist had suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA), or a “mini stroke”, and explained to the woman that she should be examined more thoroughly at a local hospital.
“The tourist had insurance and agreed to go to hospital, so we called for an ambulance, which came to pick her up at 1pm to take her to Bangkok Hospital Phuket,” Dr Sutsinee said.
Dr Sutsinee told The Phuket News that she already called to follow up the tourist’s condition.
“I was told that the tourist had received treatment and was already discharged from the hospital yesterday [Jan 28],” she said.
Dr Sutsinee has made her explanation of the events on Monday public with her own post in Thai on Facebook.
“From the viral post, I am the doctor who was on duty at that day, and confirm that the patient was not infected with the coronavirus and she did not die,” she wrote.