At least six more cases of coronavirus was discovered in Thailand bringing the total number of cases to 14, the country’s Ministry of Public Health said on Tuesday.
All six new cases were Chinese tourists, a solo traveler from Chongqing and a family of five from Hubei Province where the outbreak started.
Though Beijing has taken drastic steps to contain the virus including the quarantine of the city and the province where the virus were originally found, as many as 5 million people may have left the city prior to the lock-down for Lunar New Year.
Thai Ministry of Public Health officials told Thai Enquirer that the number of Chinese tourists that arrived in Thailand was “significant” before the country had time to implement a screening process.
Thailand’s health minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that his ministry had the situation under control. According to ministry officials, mobile laboratories and doctors have been stationed around the country on standby.
Source of virus
According to the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 33 out of 585 samples collected from a Wuhan seafood market tested positive for the strand of coronavirus.
The body said that increased the likelihood that the virus originated from wildlife sold within the city for consumption.
Beijing has allocated over US$43 million to build facilities to fight the disease. According to Chinese state media, the country is currently building two emergency hospitals in Wuhan to cope with the number of patients.
The death toll from the coronavirus climbed past 100 fatalities on Tuesday with the confirmed number of patients jumping to 4,515 cases, according to official Chinese statistics.
(Photo Credit: Ministry of Public Health)