China reports second death from Wuhan coronavirus as Thailand confirms another case
- Man in Wuhan, 69, dies two weeks after being admitted to hospital with the new strain
- Thailand reports second infected patient as countries across Asia continue to find confirmed or suspected cases
A 69-year-old man died on Wednesday, Wuhan Health Commission said late on Thursday. He had shown symptoms on December 21 before being admitted to Wuhan Medical Treatment Centre – where all suspected cases of the viral pneumonia have been treated – on January 4 after his condition worsened, the commission’s statement said.
The man had a heart muscle infection and tuberculosis when he was admitted to hospital, it said.
The Wuhan health authority said that the city had reported no new cases as of Wednesday and that 12 of the 41 patients confirmed to have been infected had recovered and been discharged from hospital. Five were being treated as severe cases.
Of the 763 people identified as having had close contact with the 41 patients, 644 were no longer under medical observation, it said.
China’s second confirmed death from the coronavirus came as Thailand’s health ministry said it had detected a second case of the strain.
The Thai ministry said on Friday morning that a 74-year-old Chinese woman had been confirmed as being infected – the second case found in Thailand in less than a week.
The second patient landed in Thailand on Monday, five days after a 61-year-old woman arriving in Bangkok from Wuhan was confirmed as the first case of the coronavirus outside China.
Both women were being treated at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, but Dr Sukhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary of the Thai health ministry, said at a press conference on Friday that there was no relation between the two cases.
Sukhum said that more than 13,000 travellers from Wuhan had been screened at four Thai airports in the previous fortnight.
He said the 61-year-old Chinese woman no longer had a fever but a second assessment was needed before she could be discharged.
Wuhan pneumonia: how search for source unfolded
Other Asian countries have reported confirmed or suspected cases of the coronavirus this week.
The same day, Singapore’s health ministry reported its third suspected case, saying it had quarantined a 69-year-old man who had been diagnosed with pneumonia after visiting Wuhan. Two Chinese nationals from Wuhan had previously been placed in quarantine in the city but later tested negative for the coronavirus.
As a precautionary measure, two Chinese tourists from Wuhan were quarantined by Vietnam’s Ministry of Health after showing fever symptoms when they landed at Da Nang airport on Tuesday.
China coronavirus: five members of two families among those infected
While the Chinese health authorities continued to look for the source of the infection, the WHO said it was unsurprising that there had been cases outside China and further cases could be found in other countries.
“We are still in the early stages of understanding this new virus, where it came from and how it affects people,” a spokesperson told the South China Morning Post. “There are still many unknowns, and the situation may continue to evolve.”
The organisation has not recommended any restrictions on travel or trade. Meanwhile, authorities in Wuhan have stepped up efforts to contain the spread of the virus by setting up temperature detectors in its international airport and three major railway stations. Those confirmed to have a body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) or above would be taken into temporary quarantine, the local transport authority said.
