British tourist fighting for life in Thailand feared to be first western victim of mystery Chinese coronavirus

[webfact]

British tourist fighting for life in Thailand feared to be first western victim of mystery Chinese coronavirus

Andy Jehring

 

A UK tourist fighting for his life in Thailand is feared to be the first western victim of the Chinese flu-like coronavirus.

 

Ash Shorley, 32, was rushed to hospital in Phuket after a pneumonia-style bug infected both lungs while he was on Koh Phi Phi island.

 

He had to be ferried by specialised seaplane because his damaged lungs could not cope with high altitude travel.

 

Doctors in Phuket found his symptoms are consistent with the Chinese coronavirus, whose spread has triggered fears of a pandemic.

 

More than 40 Chinese have officially contracted  the illness with two deaths reported.

 

But it is feared the Chinese authorities are hiding the true scale of the problem.

 

Full story: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10775551/brit-thailand-chinese-coronavirus/

 

-- The SUN 2020-01-20

[TheDark]

4 minutes ago, webfact said:

Ash Shorley, 32, was rushed to hospital in Phuket after a pneumonia-style bug infected both lungs while he was on Koh Phi Phi island

He had to be ferried by specialised seaplane because his damaged lungs could not cope with high altitude travel.

 

Special seaplane from Phi-Phi to neighbouring island of Phuket.  Ok..

 

[ChipButty]

Get well soon lad, I was told the other day in China they are screening people at the airport,

[GeorgeCross]

12 minutes ago, TheDark said:

 

Special seaplane from Phi-Phi to neighbouring island of Phuket.  Ok..

 

 

yeah because when you are dying from a mystery virus the first thing you think is "mind if we take a longboat mate i need to save a few quid.."

 

[richard_smith237]

An impressive response from the medical services. 
 

Its good to see this response rather than ‘no insurance no hospital’ type approach... 

 

Even in unfortunate circumstances it’s good to see Thailand in a positive light in the news for a change. 

 

[TheDark]

11 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

yeah because when you are dying from a mystery virus the first thing you think is "mind if we take a longboat mate i need to save a few quid.."

 

Not about the money, but more of practicality. The story also said "He had to be ferried by specialised seaplane because his damaged lungs could not cope with high altitude travel.", which indicates that there are flights between these two islands.

 

I will believe this story only after it's been reported in more reliable news sources. 

 

Also, there was no mention, if the person has been to Wuhan region, which is the most important information in this case. 

[RichardColeman]

16 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its good to see this response rather than ‘no insurance no hospital’ type approach... 

Course that may be outweighed by cost to tourism if it did spread

[hithere]

38 minutes ago, TheDark said:

 

Special seaplane from Phi-Phi to neighbouring island of Phuket.  Ok..

 

Rough sea, could think a few things more as well

 

[RotBenz8888]

52 minutes ago, webfact said:

But it is feared the Chinese authorities are hiding the true scale of the problem.

You don't say!

[Ireland32]

47 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Get well soon lad, I was told the other day in China they are screening people at the airport,

They scan you coming in, do they scan you leaving , that’s the question 

[tifino]

24 minutes ago, TheDark said:

Also, there was no mention, if the person has been to Wuhan region, which is the most important information in this case. 

 noting it has a 2 to 5 days incubation window

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, Ireland32 said:

They scan you coming in, do they scan you leaving , that’s the question 

Indeed... they [the airports] should be scanning (for people with elevated temperatures) upon departure and arrival. 
 

Scanning arrivals is flawed approach, anyone infected of a dangerous illness has already spread it to others on a flight !!! 

Edited January 20, 2020 by richard_smith237

[lemonjelly]

If he hasn’t recently been to Wuhan, the virus is now present in Thai livestock or it’s transmitted from person to person which considering the high infection rate being reported in China seems unfortunately to be the case, if he has the new corona virus that is. 

[Moonlover]

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He had to be ferried by specialised seaplane because his damaged lungs could not cope with high altitude travel.

Well, this is reported by 'The Sun' no less who clearly haven't done their homework. High altitude travel is not possible from an island with no airport!

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

 

Well, this is reported by 'The Sun' no less who clearly haven't done their homework. High altitude travel is not possible from an island with no airport!

 

 

Details, details.... Pffftttt.....  

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quote

Surgeons in Phuket inserted pipes into Ash’s back and drained 2kg of liquid from his collapsed lungs.

Ouch!!!

 

 

[cyril sneer]

I hope i'm given an ipad and deodrant when i'm fighting for my life

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Info from the WHO on the original China citizen case exported to Thailand:

 

https://www.who.int/csr/don/14-january-2020-novel-coronavirus-thailand-ex-china/en/

 

Quote

The case is a 61-year-old Chinese woman living in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. On 5 January 2020, she developed fever with chills, sore throat and headache. On 8 January 2020, she took a direct flight to Thailand from Wuhan City together with five family members in a tour group of 16 people. The traveler with febrile illness was detected on the same day by thermal surveillance at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Thailand, and was hospitalized the same day. 

 

So she traveled from China to Thailand, and was passed out of the airport at China, despite having chills, sore throat and headache...  But at least, was detected on arrival at Swampy...

 

And then...

 

 

Quote

 

The Ministry of Public Health Thailand implemented measures for screening travelers from Wuhan city on 3 January 2020 at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Don Mueang, Phuket and Chiang Mai airports, and activated enhanced surveillance at public and private hospitals. Since the identification of the case on 5 January 2019, Thai health authorities have taken the following measures:

• Eight febrile travelers were detected by a thermo-scan at Suvarnabhumi Airport. They have been isolated and tested, and none of them have been confirmed with 2019-nCov infection.
• A total of 182 contacts were identified and are being monitored. The contacts were fellow passengers as well as members of the same tour group. Only one contact developed respiratory symptoms and the PCR test of throat swab yields positive for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
• Risk communication guidance has been shared with the public and a hotline has been established by the Department of Disease Control for people returning from the affected area in China with related symptoms.

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[yumyai]

The only reports so far are from the Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail. Anyone seen this confirmed by a media source with any credibility? 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I think I'm going to skip any local Chinese New Year celebrations this year where any number of Chinese tourists may be hanging out...

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 minutes ago, yumyai said:

The only reports so far are from the Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail. Anyone seen this confirmed by a media source with any credibility? 

 

I looked just now, and found no non-duplicate others mentioning this guy's name... as yet.

 

[CLW]

As reading from media sources it is not confirmed yet that this is a case of the Wuhan virus. 

Pneumonia can have plenty of reasons.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I can't find any update on this subject from the WHO beyond Jan. 17, which was last Friday.

 

At that time, they seemed to be saying they had not seen any evidence of human to human transmission with this latest Wuhan spawned virus... But in other places, they said other types of coronavirus in the past have had HtoH transmission.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, CLW said:

As reading from media sources it is not confirmed yet that this is a case of the Wuhan virus. 

Pneumonia can have plenty of reasons.

 

Thailand supposedly has the ability to specifically test for this particular strain. But whether the hospital in Phuket that this guy has been admitted to has that capability, dunno.

 

This is what WHO reported re the first Chinese case identified in Thailand:

 

Quote

Samples tested positive for coronaviruses by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on 12 January 2020. The genomic sequencing analysis performed by Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Center, the Thai Red Cross Society (EID-TRC) and the Thai National Institute of Health (Thai NIH), Department of Medical Sciences confirmed that the patient was infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) which was isolated in Wuhan, China

 

 

[CGW]

23 minutes ago, yumyai said:

Anyone seen this confirmed by a media source with any credibility? 

Think you will find there are non left! they have all been bought out or sold out! 

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, Ireland32 said:

They scan you coming in, do they scan you leaving , that’s the question 

Yes. At the airport, train stations, bus stations in Wuhan.

[Mavideol]

Chinese government should not allow their citizens to travel due to high risk of virus contamination, yet they are all over, guess (as usual) they don't care about the potential risks of other people (non chinese) dying

[LivinginKata]

Never knew Phuket had a sea plane ?

 

Edit = still operating. Talk about one for air tours years ago.

Edited January 20, 2020 by LivinginKata

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Yes. At the airport, train stations, bus stations in Wuhan.

 

And yet Thailand's first imported cases out of China was allowed to travel by air out of Wuhan despite having come down with a variety of symptoms several days prior to her flight.  Only to then be detected and caught upon arrival at Swampy.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

Chinese government should not allow their citizens to travel due to high risk of virus contamination, yet they are all over, guess (as usual) they don't care about the potential risks of other people (non chinese) dying

 

So far... there's no evidence of human to human transmission for this virus. And WHO has, thus far, specifically advised against any travel restrictions.