The Thai Public Health Ministry today reported seven new COVID-19 cases, including four members of the same family and celebrity TV actor Matthew Dean.

Public Health Permanent Secretary Dr. Suhum Kanchanapimai told a news conference this morning, held at the Health Emergency Operations Centre, that there have so far been 82 confirmed coronavirus cases in Thailand, with 35 having recovered, 46 in hospital and one fatality.

He said that one of the new cases is the mother of one of the 11 patients who contracted the virus from sharing drinks and cigarettes. Another patient is a man who returned recently from Japan and infected his daughter, son-in-law and niece.

The 81st patient is a 20-year old female student who returned from Japan, while the 82nd patient is a TV actor and owner of a boxing camp, who is now being treated at Rajavithi Hospital.

The actor, Matthew Dean, told the Thai Rath News Show that was infected with COVID-19, adding that he immediately alerted his family, friends and colleagues, with whom he had been in contact in the last few days.

On Friday, TV Channel 3, where Matthew has been working, has ordered all staff working on the same floor of its building to go home and remain there for a 14 day quarantine period.  The floor was later cleansed with disinfectants and the S&P outlet in the building has been closed for 14 days.

The management of Bangkok University has ordered class suspensions from today (Saturday) until March 27^th, after one student is thought to have become infected with COVID-19 and who is now under observation by the Disease Control Department.

The management of the university has arranged for online lectures for students during the suspension period and, in the meantime, has ordered the disinfection of all classrooms and buildings, buses and teaching equipment at the Bangkok and Rangsit campuses, in accordance with the standards set by the Disease Control Department.

Mahidol University, meanwhile, announced today that one of its students has tested positive for coronavirus infection and is now being treated at Siriraj Hospital.

The university added that it is trying to track down other students and people who had been in close contact with the infected student for testing. If the results are negative, the university said that these people would be asked to observe self-quarantine at home for 14 days.