COVID-19: Thailand reports four new cases, one more death

The latest fatality - a 68-year-old Thai man from Bangkok who was diagnosed with the deadly virus in middle of March and his condition was worsened with kidney failure and blood infection.

Of the four new cases, two were from the southern province of Yala involving a 41-year-old Thai woman and a 44-year-old Thai man.

Another two new cases - a 36-year-old Thai woman who had close contact with previous confirmed cases and a 28-year-old Thai woman in Phuket which recorded the second highest number of COVID-19 cases in the kingdom.

Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Thaweesilp Wissanuyothin said health authorities are intensifying active COVID-19 case finding in the country.

To date, he said a total of about 8,000 tests conducted in four provinces - Bangkok, Yala, Phuket and Krabi.

"A total of 44 or 0.55 per cent was tested positive for COVID-19," he said at COVID-19 daily briefing here today.

Thailand has recorded a low number of new COVID-19 cases and many raised concern on capacity of laboratory testing in the kingdom.

Head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, Dr Yong Poovorawan denied claims that the low number of new cases was due the limited lab test.

"We have tested more than 3,000 cases [per million people]. The ratio is not lower than those of Malaysia and others.

"Moreover, we are now ramping up our capacity because there are more private laboratories. Laboratories in Thailand have already tested around 40,000 samples over the past week," he said as quoted in the Bangkok Post.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Thailand is set to produce 800,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) gowns in a collaboration between the Public Health Ministry and Thailand Textile Institute.

He said the first production of 44,000 will be handed over to hospitals nationwide.

"The PPE which has been certified by the Medical Science department and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be reusable for 20 times thus saving government expenses compared to imported PPE," he said.