French woman on Koh Samui tests positive for COVID-19

 

A French woman on Koh Samui has tested positive for COVID-19, health officials have confirmed.

The woman tested positive despite going through the mandatory 14 day quarantine.

 

The woman arrived in Thailand with her husband and child and entered state quarantine on 30 Sept.

 

The woman was tested twice while in state quarantine. Both tests returned negative results, officials said. 

The family left quarantine and travelled to Samui on 15 Oct.

 

On 17 Oct the woman started with a fever and on 20 Oct she was admitted to hospital.

On 21 Oct she tested positive for COVID-19.

Her husband and child have not been infected.

 

Health officials are awaiting test results of 15 other people the infected woman has been in close contact with.

 

Health officials are now trying to determine if she contracted COVID-19 while in Thailand. 

This is a developing story. This post may be updated without warning. 

 

 

 

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French tourist develops Covid-19 symptoms after completing mandatory quarantine

 

 

A 57-year-old French tourist, who is visiting Koh Samui with her husband and son, has tested positive for Covid-19, the Public Health Ministry announced on Friday.

 

The family had taken Thai Airways flight TG933 from the French city of Limoges and landed in Thailand on September 30, Division of Communicable Diseases director Sophon Iamsirithavorn said.

 

They then completed the 14-day mandatory quarantine in an alternative state quarantine site in Samut Prakan and left for Samui on October 15. The family had tested negative in two tests on October 3 and 11, and had visited the French embassy before taking Bangkok Airways PG167 to Koh Samui.

 

On October 17, the woman reportedly developed a fever but managed to go shopping at Big C supermarket and a 7-Eleven convenience store near their accommodation.

 

Then on October 20, she went to Bangkok Hospital Samui in a private car and was admitted for one night. The hospital then sent her samples for further tests at Koh Samui Hospital.

 

However, Koh Samui Hospital came up with a positive result on October 21, and this result was again confirmed by the Department of Medical Sciences in Surat Thani on October 22. She was then admitted at Koh Samui Hospital on October 22.

Her husband and son, meanwhile, have tested negative.

 

The family's friend, who picked them up at Samui Airport, has also been tested and the result is expected to be released on Friday evening.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30396675

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-10-23

So either the 14 day quarantine is a load of BS or Thailand isn't as secure as they lead us to believe...

 

Increase quarantine ro 3 weeks

That's the "Covid free Thailand" up the Suwanee ! 

She may have caught it from an untested Thai.

2 minutes ago, canopus1969 said:

Increase quarantine ro 3 weeks

28 days is better anything longer than 14 and he wants to do 10 day or nothing , Ridiculous 

Open next year it’s breaking out all over for Christ sake 

I have done enough reading from reputable sources, one of which showed the inventor of the PCR tests stating that they cannot detect Covid-19 on their own, any dead cells from past viruses would flag a positive result, so what do you make of that ?

Notice that it took 2 more days after she tested positive to be announced.

15 minutes ago, canopus1969 said:

Increase quarantine ro 3 weeks

Some provinces, not all, have additional home quarantine once a person arrives in that province after 14 day ASQ.

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have done enough reading from reputable sources, one of which showed the inventor of the PCR tests stating that they cannot detect Covid-19 on their own, any dead cells from past viruses would flag a positive result, so what do you make of that ?

 

not correct. The test is specific to COVID-19. False positives are very rare (but false negatives fairly common). And when someone tests positiev a second test is immediately done to conifrm. Odds of 2 sequential false positives are miniscule.

 

Now PCR can indeed pick up dead cells from prior COVID-19 infection, but as she is symptomatic that is not likely to be the case here.

4 minutes ago, Sunderland said:

Notice that it took 2 more days after she tested positive to be announced.

That is because they always do a second test to confirm.

 

5 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

any dead cells from past viruses would flag a positive result

How long do you think an immune system (that's working well enough to deal with Covid in short order) leaves dead cells floating about?

Unlike anywhere else in the world, Thailand covid cases seem to be much longer than the usual 4-5 days. So something does not add up, either testing is faulty *or* people are catching it inside Thailand, and because testing is mostly or solely done on those in quarantine, it is only finding positive case of those in quarantine, when it could easily be out in the general population.

13 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have done enough reading from reputable sources, one of which showed the inventor of the PCR tests stating that they cannot detect Covid-19 on their own

That’s nonsense. 
 

Quote

any dead cells from past viruses would flag a positive result

That’s always the case with PCR tests, whether it’s Covid or Chlamydia. That’s why you don’t do a test of cure too close to an antimicrobial treatment, for example, as the body may still he flushing out dead cells (another reason is false negatives btw). 
 

Quote

so what do you make of that ?

You don’t just rely on one positive. You do confirmatory tests, which may include additional PCR Tests as well as x-Rays and looking at a patient‘s symptoms. 
 

PCR is super reliable and one of the best technologies available in modern diagnosis. There are infections that practically you can’t even detect without PCR. 
 

 

 

Just now, ourmanflint said:

because testing is mostly or solely done on those in quarantine, it is only finding positive case of those in quarantine, when it could easily be out in the general population.

This sounds plausible...

6 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

not correct. The test is specific to COVID-19. False positives are very rare (but false negatives fairly common). And when someone tests positiev a second test is immediately done to conifrm. Odds of 2 sequential false positives are miniscule.

 

Now PCR can indeed pick up dead cells from prior COVID-19 infection, but as she is symptomatic that is not likely to be the case here.

 

could her symptoms come from another infection, not COVID ?

 

6 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

Unlike anywhere else in the world, Thailand covid cases seem to be much longer than the usual 4-5 days. So something does not add up, either testing is faulty *or* people are catching it inside Thailand, and because testing is mostly or solely done on those in quarantine, it is only finding positive case of those in quarantine, when it could easily be out in the general population.

Long Covid

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54622059

4 minutes ago, tgw said:

 

could her symptoms come from another infection, not COVID ?

 

Not likely if she tested positive for COVID on 2 sequential tests.

 

They would nto be eager to announce this as COVID. It must be clear that it is.

 

The big question of course is where/how  she contacted it.

 

 

1 minute ago, Thailand said:

Long Covid

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54622059

Long covid has absolutely nothing to do with incubation times, it is the long lasting effects of a positive infection

Just now, Sheryl said:

Not likely if she tested positive for COVID on 2 sequential tests.

 

They would nto be eager to announce this as COVID. It must be clear that it is.

 

The big question of course is where/how  she contacted it.

 

I mean, symptoms from an unrelated infection while tests detected a recent but cleared COVID infection

11 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

Unlike anywhere else in the world, Thailand covid cases seem to be much longer than the usual 4-5 days. So something does not add up, either testing is faulty *or* people are catching it inside Thailand, and because testing is mostly or solely done on those in quarantine, it is only finding positive case of those in quarantine, when it could easily be out in the general population.

Of Course. 
What did Trump say about bringing the USA's numbers down? Stop testing.
What do you think Tland's been doing since the panic started back in March?

3 minutes ago, ourmanflint said:

Long covid has absolutely nothing to do with incubation times, it is the long lasting effects of a positive infection

 

Exactly. Irrelevant to this case.

 

Either:

 

1. This woman is one of the less than 1% of people in whom there is an incubation period of greater than 2 weeks (indeed, 3 weeks)

 

or

 

2. She somehow got infected while in quarantine

 

or

 

3. Show got infected after leaving quarantine  in which case the incubation was unusually short.

 

None of these 3 scenarios are probable but one of them must be the case.

3 minutes ago, tgw said:

 

I mean, symptoms from an unrelated infection while tests detected a recent but cleared COVID infection

Highly unlikely given that she tested negative at least 3 times in the prior 3 weeks.

1 minute ago, ourmanflint said:

Long covid has absolutely nothing to do with incubation times, it is the long lasting effects of a positive infection

Did I say that?

 

But I agree, pretty much sure Covid is ingrained  in to the population here in Thailand and has been for months. For some reason not the severity of other countries, and lack of testing is a major factor in the figures.

7 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Not likely if she tested positive for COVID on 2 sequential tests.

 

They would nto be eager to announce this as COVID. It must be clear that it is.

 

The big question of course is where/how  she contacted it.

 

 

The Quarantine Procedure means that you are in the same group of people at the same location? or are there new arrivals coming during that 14 day period who can infect those who are about to leave? 

sounds to me like there are 6 possibilities

 

- the tests are defective

- she caught it in quarantine 

- caught after quarantine 

- quarantine is ineffective and flawed

- someone is telling lies

 

possibly some mix from above

 

either way this system has failed

 

and if she was asymptomatic she would never have been detected

8 minutes ago, robsamui said:

 What did Trump say about bringing the USA's numbers down? Stop testing.
What do you think Tland's been doing since the panic started back in March?

 

Thailand is a nation of hypochondriacs and gossips. If there were cases, symptoms, hospitalisations, or deaths, you would hear about it.

6 minutes ago, Jack Mountain said:

The Quarantine Procedure means that you are in the same group of people at the same location? or are there new arrivals coming during that 14 day period who can infect those who are about to leave? 

There are new arrivals all the time but each is confined to a separate room and they are not allowed to mingle. Virtually no direct contact with hotel staff either.

 

Certainly the place they quarantined and conditions there need to be examined.  As well as contact tracing for everyone on the flight (if they flew) they took to Samui.

10 minutes ago, Jack Mountain said:

The Quarantine Procedure means that you are in the same group of people at the same location? or are there new arrivals coming during that 14 day period who can infect those who are about to leave? 

exactly, someone infected could have arrived just before she left, I don't believe they are in groups in ASQ

13 minutes ago, bkk_bwana said:

 

Thailand is a nation of hypochondriacs and gossips. If there were cases, symptoms, hospitalisations, or deaths, you would hear about it.

The same way we're given the accurate figures for Thai road deaths??