A medical panel, from Thailand’s National Infectious Committee, will determine the exact cause of the death of a COVID-19 patient, who contracted dengue fever prior to becoming infected with the coronavirus.
Disease Control Department director-general Dr. Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoenchai said today the victim, a 35-year old Thai man, one of two severe COVID-19 cases in Thailand, had been cleared of the COVID-19 virus on February 16th, following one month of treatment in hospital, but subsequently died of lung and heart failure.
Since the patient caught dengue fever before he was treated for the COVID-19 infection, he said that it was not yet clear which infection had contributed the most to the patient’s death, so the medical panel will investigate the exact cause of the death, he added.
Government spokeswoman Mrs. Narumon Pinyosinwat said today that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had offered his condolences to the family of the deceased and assures the public of the high standard of Thailand’s health system.
As for the other severe COVID-19 case, who is still at Bamrasnaradura Institute of Infectious Disease, Dr. Suwanchai said the patient was cleared of COVID-19 last week, but remains under observation.
Of 42 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Thailand, 30 have been cleared of the virus and returned home, while 11 remain in hospital.
Meanwhile, serious concern has been voiced, by parents of students at a high school in Wang Nam Yen district, over a teacher and his family who have recently returned from South Korea and have not been in home quarantine, as legally required.
In their tweets, parents claim the unidentified teacher did not tell the school’s management the truth about the trip abroad, but posted pictures taken in South Korea on their Facebook page.
