Today’s update brings the total number of people in Phuket recognised as infected with the disease since the outbreak began to 192.
The report does mark that the total of 192 does include the Hungarian tourist who died from his injuries in a road accident but was confirmed as infected with COVID-19 while in hospital care. (See story here.)
According to the report released this morning, so far people 2,996 have been put under observation for possible infection of the virus.
Of the 2,996 placed under observation, 2,897 “Persons Under Investigation” (PUI) had been checked and gone home. The remaining 99 are still receiving hospital treatment, said the report.
Of those, 35 are waiting for test results to confirm whether they have been infected.
The report noted that 127 people who had been confirmed as infected since the outbreak began had recovered and been discharged from hospital care.
The report also issued a reminder for people to maintain a “social distance” even if themselves or the people around them are not showing any signs of being infected.
“Please avoid attending unnecessary activities and going to the places where a crowd of people gather. Wear a face mask and often wash your hands with alcohol sanitizers in order to protect yourselves from the virus,” the report urged.
“Please see a doctor if you have the following symptoms: fever, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, breathing difficulty along with loss of sense of smell and taste, headache and diarrhea.” the report noted.
CHERNG TALAY
Phuket Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Incident Command Center (ICC) yesterday reported that the first day of the “proactive” screening in Cherng Talay launched on Saturday saw a total of 4,144 people checked, resulting in 12 possible cases of infection being identified. (See here.)
Carrying out the checks were 178 people working in 20 teams, which in total comprised 61 provincial health officials, 25 Thalang health officials, 10 people from Thalang Hospital, 15 officials from the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor), 30 police officers, 15 navy personnel and 22 volunteers.
The two areas specifically targeted in Cherng Talay are the Moo 2 and Moo 5 neighbourhoods in Bang Tao.
The ICC reported that of the 965 registered households in Moo 2, 665 households were checked. Of the area’s registered population of 4,633, 2196 people were checked, leading to five cases of possible infection being identified.
A total of 630 households were checked in Moo 5, the ICC reported. The area has 619 registered households, with the ICC explaining the difference as “rental households”.
Of Moo 5’s registered population of 2954, 1948 people were checked, leading to seven cases of possible infection being identified, the ICC noted.
The Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO) is reporting that the number of confirmed cases being identified is lower than initial predictions, which expected Phuket to have 404 confirmed cases of people infected with COVID-19 by April 19, and 677 cases by April 24*.
In a graph released yesterday, the PPHO marked its statistics to date, with records starting on Mar 20.
The graph is marked as follows:
Red line – number of new confirmed cases each day
Orange line – predicted number of people confirmed as infected
Purple line – actual number of people confirmed as infected
Blue line – number of people confirmed as infected but recovered and discharged from hospital
Green line – number of people who had or are still receiving hospital treatment.
* CORRECTION: The initial prediction was as is now explained: for Phuket to have 404 confirmed cases of people infected with COVID-19 by April 19, not 677. The error is regretted.