Immigration officer on duty at Suvarnabhumi airport contracts Covid-19, reports Thai media

[WalkingOrders]

4 hours ago, NanLaew said:

On the other hand, maybe some have issues comprehending what asymptomatic transmission entails and the varying medical estimates relating to Covid-19 incubation and related quarantine that have been universally ballparked at 14-days for the best part of two months already. That and the fact they regardless of what any country has done up until now, this will keep spreading.

 

But yes, this is a Thai forum so I can see why those here that are either scared or have no viable backup plan tend to lash out at what they see as local incompetence.

I live in Bangkok. I have zero worry about Corona virus. None zip nada. First Thailand is way down on the list. 2nd recovery rate from this virus seems very high. According to the compiled cases - I aint worried,

 

but stay indoors kids its a dangerous world out there...

 

Just back from 6 days in Patong Phuket, it was awesome,  back home in Bangkok now...didn't where a mask once.

 

https://ncov2019.live/

[Parsve]

  4 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Singapore is colder than Thailand. Don't know about the controls in Malaysia.

Average Bangkok temp for Febuary is 32 degrees and for Singapore it's 33 degrees.

 

And the humans body temeperature is 37 degrees, so whats the point?

[WalkingOrders]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Keep up... 6 more announced today upping the official tally to 59.

 

Big deal

https://ncov2019.live/

[elliss]

6 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

hopefully they can track and quarantine everyone he processed

 

     Farlangs ...

[sahibji]

6 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Oops. That is not good.

not only not good but this situation is serious as contact tracing is virtually impossible under the circumstances.

[WalkingOrders]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I am curious why Thailand has 37 cases and my own country, America has over 1000?

Thailand is doing quite well:

https://ncov2019.live/

[sahibji]

is there any plan to quarantine the immigration staff  with whom this person could have come into contact with. the problem is all the more serious as the possible source of infection is uncertain and therefore contact tracing impossible.

[sahibji]

Just now, WalkingOrders said:

Thailand is doing quite well:

https://ncov2019.live/

we hope and pray that the situation will not erupt like it has happened in some countries.

[ukrules]

3 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

He will have probably recorded each passport in his computer so if the TM30 rule is followed then tracking should not be a problem.

You missed the part about the immigration officer working on a booth where people exit the country...

[sahibji]

38 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

If true he has covid-19; so far it is symptoms similar to coronavirus. How quickly do they get test results that are bankable? Heck, they may be out of test kits by now or hording them to sell to China. I'm filing this one under 'the sky is falling' column.

he has been confirmed.

[sahibji]

13 minutes ago, newnative said:

  It was only a matter of time--surprised it wasn't sooner.

a situation like this where the source of infection cannot be located can prove disastrous.

[Fex Bluse]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Immigration officer on duty at Suvarnabhumi airport contracts Covid-19, reports Thai media

Not sure why this is in the Bangkok forum and not the much more heavily read Thailand News forum.

 

But these really damaging news articles seem to increasingly end up where fewer eyes see them.

 

Maybe it's just a coincidence.

[SkyFax]

24 minutes ago, ukrules said:

The officer was processing people leaving the country so they will be all around the world by now.

 

So many potentially contaminated passports.

 

The first person who handles the passport when people get to where they're traveling - immigration officers in the destination country.

You did say 'potentially'. Unless the infected officer coughed directly on a passport, the chance of any transmission may 'potentially' be low:

(quote article)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), it is possible to contract COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touching one’s mouth, nose or possibly eyes. However, experts say this is not the main way the virus spreads.

COVID-19 has a generally poor survivability on surfaces and poses a low risk of spread from one person to another through contact of a shared surface, CDC officials said.

 

A study by the Journal of Hospital Infection found that other strains of coronavirus have the potential to remain on metal, glass and plastic surfaces for two hours to nine days. According to the World Health Organization, the virus is unable to survive for long periods of time on packages or letters.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/03/04/heres-how-long-coronavirus-can-live-on-surfaces/

rt

Edited March 11, 2020 by SkyFax

[peterb17]

5 hours ago, ChipButty said:

No ploblem, they all went to the wrong place

Can you give the statistics and numbers - fake news 

[ukrules]

2 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

Plus the loss of face for Prayut who said it was all under control.

I'm sure he will blame it on somebody, right now my money would be on the army of hookers returning from South Korea who did a runner at the airport.

 

[transam]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I am curious why Thailand has 37 cases and my own country, America has over 1000?

I don't believe all I read....

[WalkingOrders]

5 hours ago, Canuck1966 said:

Just like Cambodia and a few other 3rd world places; it's the lack of testing, not the lack of people who are infected.

Thousands of Thais are infected across the country

Yet I've yet to see one case of a Thai passing it on to another Thai

What super beings!

Respectfully, where exactly do you get this information that thousands are infected across Thailand? First shame on you for saying such complete fabrication. 2nd shame again. 

 

You post here based upon what, your hunch? An inate belief that Thai people live to deceive you?

 

You make a guess, and therefore it must be true?

 

What I have seen of Thai, is that they are being very conscious of this, with gel for hands everywhere I go, and symptom testing. 

 

Not much else to do beyond that, beyond making people aware.

 

I have no fear of this. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by WalkingOrders
punctuation

[peterb17]

1 hour ago, earlinclaifornia said:

I am curious why Thailand has 37 cases and my own country, America has over 1000?

Heat? 

[FarFlungFalang]

5 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

Not sure why this is in the Bangkok forum and not the much more heavily read Thailand News forum.

 

But these really damaging news articles seem to increasingly end up where fewer eyes see them.

 

Maybe it's just a coincidence.

Looks suspiciously like a comment of moderate interest. 

[Parsve]

I have a question, maybe out of the subject, but anyway. The other dayhealth minister Anutin spoke about the shortage of masks, and said that people could do their own DIY-masks. Do anyone knows if I am allowed to do that, as I have no work permit (sarcasm) 

[Canuck1966]

4 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

There is no coverup. That is ridiculous fear mongering

 

Show me the numbers being tested and their results??

It's thousands and thousands stuck in the 'back log' or not tested at all

Show me a breakdown of total deaths by cause of death in Thailand in Jan, Feb and March

Edited March 11, 2020 by Canuck1966

[jkcjag]

"Sources said the officer had contracted the virus while on duty despite taking precautions like wearing a face mask". This continuing obsession with face masks is amazing. When will Thai officials understand that a mask is NOT the primary preventative measure to protect oneself. Immigration officials are handling passport and visa documents from every person coming through. Those documents have been touched multiple times by their owners and airport officials, any one of whom may be already infected from any of multiple sources like aircraft seats, arm rests, aircraft meals and packaging, car, bus, taxi door handles, staircase banisters, escalator hand rails, rest room taps, handles, baggage handles, ATM keypads, immigration bio-metric screens, money notes & coins etc. etc. Unless the official is absolutely vigilant in NOT touching his face ever, prior to disinfecting his hands, then he is open to contracting the disease by handling material from thousands of different people daily. Furthermore if he is wearing a mask then the mask itself is also liable to be infected by touching the mask for the same reasons. Masks are NOT recommended by government and medical bodies in other countries, and in fact the opposite message is being delivered i.e. the message is categorically "do NOT wear masks!", but wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth.

[WalkingOrders]

15 minutes ago, sahibji said:

we hope and pray that the situation will not erupt like it has happened in some countries.

Of course

 I live in Bangkok. I commend the Thai for their handling of this. A lot of neededless bashing and fear mongering from those with axes to grind going on here.

[peterb17]

3 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

Respectfully, where exactly do you get this information that thousands are infected across Thailand. First shame on you for saying such complete fabrication. 2nd shame again. 

 

You post here based upon what, your hunch? An inate belief that Thai people live to deceive you?

 

You make a guess, and therefore it must be true?

 

What I have seen of Thai, is that they are being very conscious of this, with gel for hands everywhere I go, and symptom testing. 

 

Not much else to do beyond that, beyond making people aware.

 

I have no fear of this. 

I too have no fear of this - went to a training seminar in Chang Mai - 400 people week before last .

Did I worry one bit - of course not. 
 

TV just seems at the moment to be full of the tin foil hat citizens - mostly from the USA .

 

There is little more chance of catching the virus in this country than being hit by an asteroid.

 

Be real people 

[WalkingOrders]

1 minute ago, jkcjag said:

"Sources said the officer had contracted the virus while on duty despite taking precautions like wearing a face mask". This continuing obsession with face masks is amazing. When will Thai officials understand that a mask is NOT the primary preventative measure to protect oneself. Immigration officials are handling passport and visa documents from every person coming through. Those documents have been touched multiple times by their owners and airport officials, any one of whom may be already infected from any of multiple sources like aircraft seats, arm rests, aircraft meals and packaging, car, bus, taxi door handles, staircase banisters, escalator hand rails, rest room taps, handles, baggage handles, ATM keypads, immigration bio-metric screens, money notes & coins etc. etc. Unless the official is absolutely vigilant in NOT touching his face ever, prior to disinfecting his hands, then he is open to contracting the disease by handling material from thousands of different people daily. Furthermore if he is wearing a mask then the mask itself is also liable to be infected by touching the mask for the same reasons. Masks are NOT recommended by government and medical bodies in other countries, and in fact the opposite message is being delivered i.e. the message is categorically "do NOT wear masks!", but wash your hands frequently with soap and water, and do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth.

My most recent experience at cheng Wattana bangkok immigration, staff in masks, AND frequent use of alcohol gel, and plenty of gel for everyone to use, and frequently used by staff. And symptom test upon entering. Same at suv BKK airport. In my opinion the Thai are on this very well.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Why do we need a press conference.. just acknowledge it, why all the dramatics?

Or maybe you need time to get a poster made up?

 

 

The MoPH has been having daily or almost daily news briefings on the CV for several months now.... whether or not there are any new cases. And issuing daily written updates on their website.

 

They would have had a news briefing today regardless of what happened with the Immigration staffer or the other new cases.

 

[Russell17au]

Some people on here just cannot be bothered to read the OP properly before they make the stupid remarks that they make. Firstly this officer was on the outward immigration checkpoint which is for those who are leaving Thailand so if he got the virus from a passport it is from a passport of a person who has left Thailand and gone to another country and taken the virus with them. Also any other passport that this officer has infected has also left the country for another country. To those that claim that the government is hiding the correct figures I want you to get the correct figures because it is impossible to know exactly how many people in Thailand have either contracted the virus or even died from it because with so many small remote villages that have a lot of elderly people living in them that when they get sick they do not go to big towns to see doctors but instead they self medicate at home and many die and then their bodies are cremated and there is no medical examination of those bodies to see what they have died from. So all you smart mathematicians go and see if you can show us the correct figures. It is impossible for any country to know the exact figures.

[WalkingOrders]

11 minutes ago, Canuck1966 said:

Show me the numbers being tested and their results??

It's thousands and thousands stuck in the 'back log' or not tested at all

Show me a breakdown of total deaths by cause of death in Thailand in Jan, Feb and March

Show me a country testing their whole population.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, SunsetT said:

....Go back and read all............ “Preliminary report revealed that the staff had fever and went for a physical exam at Lat Krabang Hospital, where he tested positive for Covid-19.”

Thanks. That second item hadn't been published when I posted. It stopped at:

 

'Thai Rath said a press conference would be held to announce the details on Wednesday'.

 

[WalkingOrders]

12 minutes ago, peterb17 said:

I too have no fear of this - went to a training seminar in Chang Mai - 400 people week before last .

Did I worry one bit - of course not. 
 

TV just seems at the moment to be full of the tin foil hat citizens - mostly from the USA .

 

There is little more chance of catching the virus in this country than being hit by an asteroid.

 

Be real people 

This American agrees with your entire post. Wish they'd all go back to twitter.