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Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts

Number of COVID-19 cases in Thailand rises to 177

Number of COVID-19 cases in Thailand rises to 177

Thai officials have documented 30 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours, the Thai Ministry of Health informed on Tuesday. 

The total amount of coronavirus cases in the country has reached 177, with 41 people recovered and one recorded death. According to the ministry, 11 of those infected visited a stadium where a Thai boxing match was held. Nine people with COVID-19 returned from abroad. Two people who came into contact with other infected persons are also among the newly reported cases.

The first case of COVID-19 was documented in Thailand on January 13, when a 74-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan was diagnozed with the virus. On January 24, she was discharged from the hospital after testing negative for the virus, after which she returned to China.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. On March 11, WHO officially characterized the situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic. The disease has spread to about 130 countries. According to official data, over 170,000 people have been infected with the virus globally, and over 6,000 have died. There are 93 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia, including 53 cases in Moscow.


Thai officials have documented 30 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours, the Thai Ministry of Health informed on Tuesday. 

The total amount of coronavirus cases in the country has reached 177, with 41 people recovered and one recorded death. According to the ministry, 11 of those infected visited a stadium where a Thai boxing match was held. Nine people with COVID-19 returned from abroad. Two people who came into contact with other infected persons are also among the newly reported cases.

The first case of COVID-19 was documented in Thailand on January 13, when a 74-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan was diagnozed with the virus. On January 24, she was discharged from the hospital after testing negative for the virus, after which she returned to China.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. On March 11, WHO officially characterized the situation with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic. The disease has spread to about 130 countries. According to official data, over 170,000 people have been infected with the virus globally, and over 6,000 have died. There are 93 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Russia, including 53 cases in Moscow.


Tearful Thai general Apologise for mass Shooting, says army can't be blame for soldier's rampage

Tearful Thai general Apologise for mass Shooting, says army can't be blame for soldier's rampage

An emotional Thai army chief on Tuesday urged a nation in mourning over a mass shooting "not to blame the army" after a soldier gunned down at least 29 people in a rampage linked to a debt dispute with a senior officer.

General Apirat Kongsompong, an arch-royalist more commonly prone to rants against pro-democracy figures, broke down in tears as he apologised during a televised press conference on behalf of the army to the victims of the shooting.

The gunman -- Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma -- was shot dead by a commando unit Sunday morning, ending a 17-hour rampage that left 29 dead and scores more wounded.

The Thai army has been at pains to portray him as a rogue soldier rather than a product of the army system.

Apirat said he would not stand down from his post in charge of an army which has seeped into all aspects of Thai life, from politics and business to conscription, with a mega-billion budget that has surged since the last coup in 2014.

"The army is a huge organisation comprising of hundreds of thousands staff... I cannot focus on every subordinate," he said.

"There are people who criticise the army, I urge them not to blame the army... because the army is a sacred organisation," adding "blame me - General Apirat."

Instead he pledged to open a "special channel" to investigate all future complaints from junior officers about their superiors, blaming the attack on a debt dispute between the gunman and his commanding officer.

The gunman "did not receive justice from his commander and his relatives who promised him financial returns", Apirat added, apparently from a commission over the sale of house.

Jakrapanth killed his commander and the commander's mother-in-law first as he embarked on an around 17-hour shooting spree.

Serving army top brass sit on the boards of state-enterprises, while many declare assets in their millions of dollars despite their meagre soldier's wages.

Army Chiefs routinely flip to become civilian prime ministers - often following coups - while barracks are accused of being hives of grey-zone businesses, such as real estate agencies and private security firms.

Senior officers often use conscripts as effective private butlers in taxpayer-funded grace and favour homes.

"I guarantee between February and April there will be many - from generals to colonels - who will be jobless," Apirat said, also promising to throw out retired army officers from government housing.

Apirat himself is due to retire in September.

Thais have flooded social media with criticism of their leaders for a perceived lack of empathy in the aftermath of the unprecedented mass shooting.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha was forced into rare public contrition on Sunday after he smiled and high-fived a crowd as he visited Korat, the city where the shooting took place.

No member of the kingdom's rich ruling royal family, who are buttressed by the army and protected by a defamation law, has so far visited survivors.

Source
An emotional Thai army chief on Tuesday urged a nation in mourning over a mass shooting "not to blame the army" after a soldier gunned down at least 29 people in a rampage linked to a debt dispute with a senior officer.

General Apirat Kongsompong, an arch-royalist more commonly prone to rants against pro-democracy figures, broke down in tears as he apologised during a televised press conference on behalf of the army to the victims of the shooting.

The gunman -- Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma -- was shot dead by a commando unit Sunday morning, ending a 17-hour rampage that left 29 dead and scores more wounded.

The Thai army has been at pains to portray him as a rogue soldier rather than a product of the army system.

Apirat said he would not stand down from his post in charge of an army which has seeped into all aspects of Thai life, from politics and business to conscription, with a mega-billion budget that has surged since the last coup in 2014.

"The army is a huge organisation comprising of hundreds of thousands staff... I cannot focus on every subordinate," he said.

"There are people who criticise the army, I urge them not to blame the army... because the army is a sacred organisation," adding "blame me - General Apirat."

Instead he pledged to open a "special channel" to investigate all future complaints from junior officers about their superiors, blaming the attack on a debt dispute between the gunman and his commanding officer.

The gunman "did not receive justice from his commander and his relatives who promised him financial returns", Apirat added, apparently from a commission over the sale of house.

Jakrapanth killed his commander and the commander's mother-in-law first as he embarked on an around 17-hour shooting spree.

Serving army top brass sit on the boards of state-enterprises, while many declare assets in their millions of dollars despite their meagre soldier's wages.

Army Chiefs routinely flip to become civilian prime ministers - often following coups - while barracks are accused of being hives of grey-zone businesses, such as real estate agencies and private security firms.

Senior officers often use conscripts as effective private butlers in taxpayer-funded grace and favour homes.

"I guarantee between February and April there will be many - from generals to colonels - who will be jobless," Apirat said, also promising to throw out retired army officers from government housing.

Apirat himself is due to retire in September.

Thais have flooded social media with criticism of their leaders for a perceived lack of empathy in the aftermath of the unprecedented mass shooting.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha was forced into rare public contrition on Sunday after he smiled and high-fived a crowd as he visited Korat, the city where the shooting took place.

No member of the kingdom's rich ruling royal family, who are buttressed by the army and protected by a defamation law, has so far visited survivors.

Source

27 dead, including gunman, in 'unprecedented' mass shooting, motive was "personal problem" over house sale, says Thai PM

27 dead, including gunman, in 'unprecedented' mass shooting, motive was "personal problem" over house sale, says Thai PM

A Thai soldier who killed at least 26 people before being shot dead in a mall by commandos went on the rampage because of a debt dispute, the kingdom's premier said Sunday, offering the first official motive for the "unprecedented" shooting spree.

Sharp-shooters brought an end to a 17-hour-ordeal when they killed the gunman on Sunday morning after a night which seesawed between heavy exchanges of gunfire and terrifying dashes for mall exits by shoppers trapped in the Terminal 21 mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat.

Twenty-six people including civilians -- the youngest a 13-year-old boy -- and security forces were killed by the rogue soldier, said Thailand's prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha.

"It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens," he said outside a hospital where victims were being treated.

At least two were undergoing brain surgery.

Prayut, a former army chief, blamed a "personal problem" over the sale of a house for the soldier's rampage, which began on Saturday afternoon near an army barracks and was for several hours relayed by the gunman via Facebook posts.

The attacker, a junior army officer identified as Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma, used a stolen M60 machine gun and rifles from one of Thailand's largest barracks as well as a military humvee to carry out the attack.

Prayut said he overpowered security at the barracks' arsenal.

"This was not carelessness. We don't leave the arsenal depot alone -- we had people guarding it."

Most of the dead were killed in and around the mall.

Volleys of gunfire rang out as the siege ran into dawn, hours after Thai security services stormed the ground floor and freed scores of terrified shoppers from the rampage.

Frightened shoppers sent cascades of messages to friends and family on social media from storerooms, barricaded in toilets and hidden under tables as the gunman stalked the mall.

With the machine gun slung over his shoulder and in full combat gear, Jakrapanth swaggered through the emptied out floors in haunting footage captured by CCTV cameras.

Evacuees recounted how an ordinary Saturday at the busy shopping centre descended into horror as he entered, sparking an hours-long ordeal.

"It was like a dream... I'm grateful I survived," Sottiyanee Unchalee, 48, told AFP, explaining she hid in the toilet of a gym inside the mall as she heard the gunfire.

Filipino teacher Aldrin Baliquing said he was ushered into a storeroom by staff as the shooting began.

"We were there for six gruelling hours... I'm in shock," he said.

Scores of people made a dash for it as police and soldiers in masks and wielding assault rifles took control of the ground floor following a gun battle and scoured the fleeing crowds for the assailant.

- 'Like a Zombie movie' -

"It was total panic, it was like a zombie movie," Chanatip Somsakul, 33, said of the escape with his wife and three-year-old daughter.

"People jumped on motorbikes and ran in all directions."

Several hours later the gunman was shot dead. Photos showed smiling units of elite soldiers and police emerging from the mall.

The gunman relayed his shooting spree through Facebook posts which charted the attack from an army barracks to the city mall.

Despite the prime minister's speculation Jakrapanth's, exact motive remained unclear as Korat -- a sedate and mid-size town -- tried to digest the scale of the atrocity.

The bloodshed began Saturday afternoon when he shot three people -- among them at least one soldier -- at a senior officer's house and then at the nearby army barracks, before driving a military vehicle to the town centre.

There the gunman used the stolen weapons to unleash carnage in the town centre.

Throughout the day he posted images of himself and wrote several posts on his Facebook page.

In one Facebook video -- since deleted -- the assailant, wearing an army helmet, filmed from an open-top jeep, saying, "I'm tired... I can't pull my finger anymore" as he made a trigger symbol with his hand.

There were also photos of a man in a ski mask holding a pistol.

Thailand's digital economy minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said he contacted regional executives at the social media giant to report the activity.

"I think this might be the first time that this happened in Thailand and it caused a lot of problems," he told AFP.

A Facebook spokesperson said the gunman's accounts were removed and it will "work around the clock to remove any violating content related to this attack as soon as we become aware of it."

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, and several shootings at courthouses last year renewed concern about gun violence.
A Thai soldier who killed at least 26 people before being shot dead in a mall by commandos went on the rampage because of a debt dispute, the kingdom's premier said Sunday, offering the first official motive for the "unprecedented" shooting spree.

Sharp-shooters brought an end to a 17-hour-ordeal when they killed the gunman on Sunday morning after a night which seesawed between heavy exchanges of gunfire and terrifying dashes for mall exits by shoppers trapped in the Terminal 21 mall in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat.

Twenty-six people including civilians -- the youngest a 13-year-old boy -- and security forces were killed by the rogue soldier, said Thailand's prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha.

"It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens," he said outside a hospital where victims were being treated.

At least two were undergoing brain surgery.

Prayut, a former army chief, blamed a "personal problem" over the sale of a house for the soldier's rampage, which began on Saturday afternoon near an army barracks and was for several hours relayed by the gunman via Facebook posts.

The attacker, a junior army officer identified as Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma, used a stolen M60 machine gun and rifles from one of Thailand's largest barracks as well as a military humvee to carry out the attack.

Prayut said he overpowered security at the barracks' arsenal.

"This was not carelessness. We don't leave the arsenal depot alone -- we had people guarding it."

Most of the dead were killed in and around the mall.

Volleys of gunfire rang out as the siege ran into dawn, hours after Thai security services stormed the ground floor and freed scores of terrified shoppers from the rampage.

Frightened shoppers sent cascades of messages to friends and family on social media from storerooms, barricaded in toilets and hidden under tables as the gunman stalked the mall.

With the machine gun slung over his shoulder and in full combat gear, Jakrapanth swaggered through the emptied out floors in haunting footage captured by CCTV cameras.

Evacuees recounted how an ordinary Saturday at the busy shopping centre descended into horror as he entered, sparking an hours-long ordeal.

"It was like a dream... I'm grateful I survived," Sottiyanee Unchalee, 48, told AFP, explaining she hid in the toilet of a gym inside the mall as she heard the gunfire.

Filipino teacher Aldrin Baliquing said he was ushered into a storeroom by staff as the shooting began.

"We were there for six gruelling hours... I'm in shock," he said.

Scores of people made a dash for it as police and soldiers in masks and wielding assault rifles took control of the ground floor following a gun battle and scoured the fleeing crowds for the assailant.

- 'Like a Zombie movie' -

"It was total panic, it was like a zombie movie," Chanatip Somsakul, 33, said of the escape with his wife and three-year-old daughter.

"People jumped on motorbikes and ran in all directions."

Several hours later the gunman was shot dead. Photos showed smiling units of elite soldiers and police emerging from the mall.

The gunman relayed his shooting spree through Facebook posts which charted the attack from an army barracks to the city mall.

Despite the prime minister's speculation Jakrapanth's, exact motive remained unclear as Korat -- a sedate and mid-size town -- tried to digest the scale of the atrocity.

The bloodshed began Saturday afternoon when he shot three people -- among them at least one soldier -- at a senior officer's house and then at the nearby army barracks, before driving a military vehicle to the town centre.

There the gunman used the stolen weapons to unleash carnage in the town centre.

Throughout the day he posted images of himself and wrote several posts on his Facebook page.

In one Facebook video -- since deleted -- the assailant, wearing an army helmet, filmed from an open-top jeep, saying, "I'm tired... I can't pull my finger anymore" as he made a trigger symbol with his hand.

There were also photos of a man in a ski mask holding a pistol.

Thailand's digital economy minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta said he contacted regional executives at the social media giant to report the activity.

"I think this might be the first time that this happened in Thailand and it caused a lot of problems," he told AFP.

A Facebook spokesperson said the gunman's accounts were removed and it will "work around the clock to remove any violating content related to this attack as soon as we become aware of it."

Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, and several shootings at courthouses last year renewed concern about gun violence.

Traditional Herbal remedies for the coronavirus spark debate in China

Traditional Herbal remedies for the coronavirus spark debate in China

Thailand sees apparent success treating virus with drug cocktail


Beijing (AFP) - A claim by Chinese scientists that a liquid made with honeysuckle and flowering plants could help fight the deadly coronavirus has sparked frenzied buying of the traditional medicine, but doubts quickly emerged.

As the death toll from the SARS-like pathogen sweeping the country continues to rise, shoppers have swamped pharmacies in search of "Shuanghuanglian".

The rush came after influential state media outlet Xinhua reported Friday that the esteemed Chinese Academy of Sciences had found the concoction "can inhibit" the virus.

Videos shared online showed long lines of people in surgical masks lining up at night outside drug stores, purportedly in hope of snapping up the product, despite official advice that people avoid public gatherings to prevent infection.

It quickly sold out both online and at brick-and-mortar stores, but responses to the remedy's supposed efficacy have ranged from enthusiasm to scepticism on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.

And state media sounded a more cautionary note on Saturday, with broadcaster CCTV publishing an interview with Zhang Boli, one of the researchers leading outbreak containment efforts, who warned of potential side effects from the medicine.

The People's Daily newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said experts advised against taking traditional remedies without professional guidance.

But the claim comes as Beijing looks to incorporate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) into its nationwide fight against the virus, which has killed more than 300 people and infected over 14,000 in the country. On Sunday the Philippines reported the first death outside of China.

Researchers at the state-run academy, a top government think tank, are also studying the potential use of a plant commonly known as Japanese knotweed to alleviate symptoms.

The National Health Commission on Tuesday said TCM practitioners were among nearly 6,000 reinforcement medical personnel being sent to Wuhan in Hubei province, ground zero of the outbreak.

- 'No difference' -

The strategy has reignited fierce and long-running debate about the efficacy of TCM, which has a history going back 2,400 years and remains popular in modern-day China.

Marc Freard, a member of the Chinese Medicine Academic Council of France, told AFP he believed traditional formulations could be used to treat people with symptoms ranging from fever to thick phlegm.

But he warned that many remedies on the market were of questionable quality and admitted that TCM "lacks scientific standards of efficacy" because it relied on "individualised treatment".

Traditional medicines were widely used in China in conjunction with Western methods during the 2003 epidemic of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed 774 people worldwide.

But a 2012 study in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found combining Chinese and Western medicines "made no difference" in battling the disease.

- Nationalism -

The Chinese government has increasingly promoted traditional medicine abroad in recent years, often with nationalistic undertones.

Beijing issued its first white paper on TCM in 2016, laying out plans to build medicine centres and dispatch practitioners to developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

President Xi Jinping has called TCM a "treasure of Chinese civilisation" and said at a meeting in October that it should be given as much weight as other treatments.

China is "working hard to spread the message internationally about its traditional culture", and medicine is a part of this, Freard said.

In 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) even added Chinese medicine to its "International Classification of Diseases" -- a reference document for medical trends and global health statistics -- after years of campaigning by Beijing.

But the move was slammed by members of the scientific community, with the European Academies' Science Advisory Council calling the decision "a major problem" due to the lack of evidence-based practice.

The WHO did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Fang Shimin, a prominent writer in China known for his campaigns against academic fraud, told AFP he believes the government's promotion of traditional medicine "panders to nationalism and has nothing to do with science".

It is an enormous industry in China worth more than $130 billion in 2016 -- a third of the country's entire medical industry -- according to state news agency Xinhua.

Thailand sees apparent success treating virus with drug cocktail


A Chinese woman infected with the new coronavirus showed a dramatic improvement after she was treated with a cocktail of anti-virals used to treat flu and HIV, Thailand's health ministry said Sunday.

The 71-year-old patient tested negative for the virus 48 hours after Thai doctors administered the combination, doctor Kriengsak Attipornwanich said during the ministry's daily press briefing.

"The lab result of positive on the coronavirus turned negative in 48 hours," Kriengsak said.

"From being exhausted before, she could sit up in bed 12 hours later."

The doctors combined the anti-flu drug oseltamivir with lopinavir and ritonavir, anti-virals used to treat HIV, Kriengsak said, adding the ministry was awaiting research results to prove the findings.

The news comes as the new virus claimed its first life outside China -- a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines -- while the death toll in China has soared above 300.

Thailand so far has detected 19 confirmed cases of the virus believed to have originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which is under lockdown.

That is the second highest number of cases outside of China, with Japan recording 20.

So far, eight patients in Thailand have recovered and returned home, while 11 remain in hospital.

In a video released Sunday, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited a patient from Wuhan who had recovered from the coronavirus, chatting with her amicably in Mandarin as she thanked him and the medical staff.

Thai authorities are trying to balance screening of inbound Chinese visitors with the economic needs of its tourist sector, which is heavily reliant on arrivals from the mainland.

Messages of support saying "Our hearts to Wuhan" in English, Chinese and Thai were plastered on a Bangkok mall popular with tourists.

The bulk of confirmed cases have been Chinese visitors to Thailand, but on Thursday the kingdom recorded its first human-to-human transmission when a Thai taxi driver was diagnosed with the disease.

The taxi driver had not travelled to China, but may have had contact with tourists.

Thailand's government is also battling public criticism that it has been slow to evacuate scores of its citizens from Hubei province, at the centre of the outbreak.

Anutin said evacuation would happen on Tuesday, and the returnees would be quarantined for 14 days.

- AFP

Thailand sees apparent success treating virus with drug cocktail


Beijing (AFP) - A claim by Chinese scientists that a liquid made with honeysuckle and flowering plants could help fight the deadly coronavirus has sparked frenzied buying of the traditional medicine, but doubts quickly emerged.

As the death toll from the SARS-like pathogen sweeping the country continues to rise, shoppers have swamped pharmacies in search of "Shuanghuanglian".

The rush came after influential state media outlet Xinhua reported Friday that the esteemed Chinese Academy of Sciences had found the concoction "can inhibit" the virus.

Videos shared online showed long lines of people in surgical masks lining up at night outside drug stores, purportedly in hope of snapping up the product, despite official advice that people avoid public gatherings to prevent infection.

It quickly sold out both online and at brick-and-mortar stores, but responses to the remedy's supposed efficacy have ranged from enthusiasm to scepticism on Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform.

And state media sounded a more cautionary note on Saturday, with broadcaster CCTV publishing an interview with Zhang Boli, one of the researchers leading outbreak containment efforts, who warned of potential side effects from the medicine.

The People's Daily newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said experts advised against taking traditional remedies without professional guidance.

But the claim comes as Beijing looks to incorporate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) into its nationwide fight against the virus, which has killed more than 300 people and infected over 14,000 in the country. On Sunday the Philippines reported the first death outside of China.

Researchers at the state-run academy, a top government think tank, are also studying the potential use of a plant commonly known as Japanese knotweed to alleviate symptoms.

The National Health Commission on Tuesday said TCM practitioners were among nearly 6,000 reinforcement medical personnel being sent to Wuhan in Hubei province, ground zero of the outbreak.

- 'No difference' -

The strategy has reignited fierce and long-running debate about the efficacy of TCM, which has a history going back 2,400 years and remains popular in modern-day China.

Marc Freard, a member of the Chinese Medicine Academic Council of France, told AFP he believed traditional formulations could be used to treat people with symptoms ranging from fever to thick phlegm.

But he warned that many remedies on the market were of questionable quality and admitted that TCM "lacks scientific standards of efficacy" because it relied on "individualised treatment".

Traditional medicines were widely used in China in conjunction with Western methods during the 2003 epidemic of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed 774 people worldwide.

But a 2012 study in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found combining Chinese and Western medicines "made no difference" in battling the disease.

- Nationalism -

The Chinese government has increasingly promoted traditional medicine abroad in recent years, often with nationalistic undertones.

Beijing issued its first white paper on TCM in 2016, laying out plans to build medicine centres and dispatch practitioners to developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.

President Xi Jinping has called TCM a "treasure of Chinese civilisation" and said at a meeting in October that it should be given as much weight as other treatments.

China is "working hard to spread the message internationally about its traditional culture", and medicine is a part of this, Freard said.

In 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) even added Chinese medicine to its "International Classification of Diseases" -- a reference document for medical trends and global health statistics -- after years of campaigning by Beijing.

But the move was slammed by members of the scientific community, with the European Academies' Science Advisory Council calling the decision "a major problem" due to the lack of evidence-based practice.

The WHO did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Fang Shimin, a prominent writer in China known for his campaigns against academic fraud, told AFP he believes the government's promotion of traditional medicine "panders to nationalism and has nothing to do with science".

It is an enormous industry in China worth more than $130 billion in 2016 -- a third of the country's entire medical industry -- according to state news agency Xinhua.

Thailand sees apparent success treating virus with drug cocktail


A Chinese woman infected with the new coronavirus showed a dramatic improvement after she was treated with a cocktail of anti-virals used to treat flu and HIV, Thailand's health ministry said Sunday.

The 71-year-old patient tested negative for the virus 48 hours after Thai doctors administered the combination, doctor Kriengsak Attipornwanich said during the ministry's daily press briefing.

"The lab result of positive on the coronavirus turned negative in 48 hours," Kriengsak said.

"From being exhausted before, she could sit up in bed 12 hours later."

The doctors combined the anti-flu drug oseltamivir with lopinavir and ritonavir, anti-virals used to treat HIV, Kriengsak said, adding the ministry was awaiting research results to prove the findings.

The news comes as the new virus claimed its first life outside China -- a 44-year-old Chinese man who died in the Philippines -- while the death toll in China has soared above 300.

Thailand so far has detected 19 confirmed cases of the virus believed to have originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which is under lockdown.

That is the second highest number of cases outside of China, with Japan recording 20.

So far, eight patients in Thailand have recovered and returned home, while 11 remain in hospital.

In a video released Sunday, health minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited a patient from Wuhan who had recovered from the coronavirus, chatting with her amicably in Mandarin as she thanked him and the medical staff.

Thai authorities are trying to balance screening of inbound Chinese visitors with the economic needs of its tourist sector, which is heavily reliant on arrivals from the mainland.

Messages of support saying "Our hearts to Wuhan" in English, Chinese and Thai were plastered on a Bangkok mall popular with tourists.

The bulk of confirmed cases have been Chinese visitors to Thailand, but on Thursday the kingdom recorded its first human-to-human transmission when a Thai taxi driver was diagnosed with the disease.

The taxi driver had not travelled to China, but may have had contact with tourists.

Thailand's government is also battling public criticism that it has been slow to evacuate scores of its citizens from Hubei province, at the centre of the outbreak.

Anutin said evacuation would happen on Tuesday, and the returnees would be quarantined for 14 days.

- AFP

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