Another six Chinese nationals entering Thailand were found to be infected with the Wuhan coronavirus, bringing a total number of cases detected in the country to 14.
Health permanent secretary Sukhum Kanchanapimai said on Tuesday there were six new cases of coronavirus infection in Thailand. They were aged 6-60 years.
All were Chinese nationals and five of them were family members travelling from China’s Hubei province, Dr Sukhum said.
The new cases brought the number of coronavirus infection cases detected in Thailand to 14.
The six new infections were being treated at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi.
Of the total 14 infected patients, five had already been treated and discharged. The other nine remained at the hospital, Dr Sukhum said.
When asked about evacuation plans, Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said only that the ministry was closely coordinating with Thais living in China.
To his knowledge there were 64 Thais living in Wuhan, in Hubei, and all were healthy, he said.
Mr Don said Chinese authorities’ lockdown of the city of Wuhan was a normal reaction to ensure the most efficient control to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
“So far, no countries have sent planes to evacuate their people from China. We have to cooperate with China. Some countries wanted to evacuate their people but they must receive permission from China first. Now, all countries, including Thailand, have prepared for the evacuation,’’ Mr Don said.
However, the foreign minister of Japan announced in Tokyo on Tuesday that his government was sending a plane to Wuhan in the afternoon to begin evacuating Japanese citizens, with Beijing's permission.
