Egyptian military airplane crew member tests positive for COVID-19 in Thailand

BANGKOK - Thailand's anti-COVID-19 measures have been stepped up in the eastern part of the country after a crewmember from an Egyptian military airplane recently tested positive for the virus, a government official said on Monday.

The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin confirmed an airport, a hotel, a department store and elsewhere places in Rayong province visited by the 43-year-old Egyptian have been put under tight control of the authorities in charge of stemming the pandemic.

The unidentified Egyptian was among 10 others tasked with an undisclosed military mission overseas, Taweesilp said.

Among all the crewmembers of the Egyptian military airplane, which landed at U-tapao airport in Rayong last Wednesday, only that particular one tested positive for the COVID-19 while all the others tested negative, Taweesilp said.

Under Thailand's emergency rule, personnel aboard all military aircraft, either Thai or foreign, are legally exempted from undergoing a 14-day state quarantine upon arrival in this country.

Last Saturday, they departed from Thailand to return to their home country, according to the CCSA spokesman.

Thailand has so far reported a total of 3,220 COVID-19 cases, 283 of which have come with those who returned from overseas. Of that total, 3,090 patients have fully recovered and been discharged from hospitals and 72 others are currently treated at hospitals. A total of 58 fatalities have been reported so far in Thailand.