Coronavirus: Thailand reports 11 new Covid-19 cases linked to Hong Kong tourist

The new patients are a group of friends who appear to have passed the virus to each other after one of their number was first infected

Officials stressed the foreign source of the group infection and announced they were stepping up travel restrictions for visitors from ‘dangerous’ areas

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Thai Buddhist monks wear face masks to protect from the coronavirus in Bangkok on Tuesday. Photo: AP

Published: 3:00pm, 12 Mar 2020Updated: 3:42pm, 12 Mar 2020

Officials in Thailand played down the possibility of “super spreading” of the coronavirus on Thursday as they reported a group of friends were responsible for the biggest daily rise in the country’s cases since the outbreak began.

The country reported 11 new cases, taking the national tally to 70. One person has died.

The new patients are a group of friends who appeared to pass the virus to each other after one of their number was first infected by a tourist who has since returned to Hong Kong, officials said.

The male and female friends, all Thai nationals aged in their 20s and 30s, socialised and shared drinks and cigarettes on two occasions in late February.

Bus station staff provide hand sanitiser to passengers as they inspect them before their journeys in Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat. Photo: AFP

“The first patient was infected from a tourist from a dangerous communicable disease area,” Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director general of the Disease Control Department, told reporters. “After that, the person had two social activities with close friends.”

Officials stressed the foreign source of the group infection and announced they were stepping up travel restrictions for visitors from a list of “designated dangerous communicable disease areas” announced last week. Those include South Korea, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran.