No cases of infection in Phuket have been confirmed as the Delta variant, Dr Kusak said yesterday (June 30)
The response follows a notice written in Thai being widely shared on Thai social media, saying, “Urgent! Phuket found five cases infected to Indian variant virus yesterday and five more cases today before opening the Phuket Sandbox.”
“In our working process, if we find a person infected, we will send his or her [swab] sample to check the variant at the Regional Medical Sciences Center in Bang Jo, Thalang. Staff at the centre have confirmed to us that no Delta variant has been found in any of our infected cases,” Dr Kusak said.
“The latest five infected cases came from Bangkok. Three of them are receiving medical treatment in hospital while the other two are being questioned in the infection investigation process,” he said.
“About 20 people are considered high-risk and have been taken to quarantine at local quarantine locations. We also arranged medical staff to monitor the high-risk people,” he added.
“People need to check before they believe the news on social media. The news must also be confirmed by relevant officials to prevent confusion and a bad image of Phuket,” he said.
“People can get updates on the infection situation through three pages: PR Phuket, the PPHO and the Phuket Info Center ‒ or call the COVID-19 hotline 094-5938876 and 062-2435116,” Dr Kusak continued.
“Again, I confirm no Delta variant has been found in Phuket,” he said.
The Department of Medical Sciences reported on Monday that one-third of Covid-19 patients in Bangkok will be tested to determine whether they have been infected by the Delta coronavirus variant as the strain is expected to dominate in the capital within the next few months, reported the Bangkok Post.
The department on Monday revealed that Bangkok is the largest cluster of the Delta variant, which was first detected in India, with 331 new cases being recorded last week, increasing the number of patients infected by this particular variant to 822.