“First of all, I have to say sorry for the family and relatives. Yesterday, we had the second death from COVID-19 in Phuket. The case was an 86-year-old Thai woman who had a hyperlipidemia and hypertension,” he said
“She died at about midday after she had been under care at the Phuket Provincial Hospital for seven days.
“She first came under care with fever and coughing, then doctors confirmed that she had pneumonia,” he added.
“After we investigated her case and questioned people who had close contact with her, medical staff found that a Myanmar national woman who was hired to take care of her was infected,” Dr Kusak said.
“Medical staff went to conduct proactive screening at the area where the caretaker stayed and found five other Myanmar workers infected,” he continued.
“The workers worked at the Phuket Town fresh market on Ong Sim Phai Rd, so we swab tested vendors and workers at the market; 460 Thai people and 350 migrant workers were tested, and we found one Myanmar national worker who was infected,” Dr Kusak said.
“Today, we will test about 400 people at the Phuket City Market on Ranong Rd. We will also conduct proactive screening among foreigners in Rawai,” he added.
“The number of new infected cases has been decreasing, but we still have to wear face masks, wash our hands and maintain social distancing,” he said.
The woman’s death is only the second since officials started reporting infections of the ‘Third Wave’ on Apr 3.
Phuket suffered three deaths from COVID-19 in the initial outbreak last year.