No Thais infected with corona virus

BANGKOK, October 28 (TNA) - The Ministry of Public Health says no Thai Muslims returning from this year's Hajj in Saudi Arabia have been found contracting the deadly corona virus. In response to reports that some Thai Muslim pilgrims fell ill and had corona virus-like symptoms, Dr. Sopon Mekthon, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, confirmed on Monday that his ministry had not found anyone infected with the fatal corona virus. According to the senior health official, 4,561 Thai Muslim pilgrims were scheduled to return home from the Hajj on 42 flights at Narathiwat, Phuket and Hat Yai Airports from October 22-27, 2013. The senior health reported that local health officials have found four female Thai Muslim pilgrims with lung infection, but laboratorial tests found they did not contract the new 2012 strain of the corona virus. The director-general acknowledged that most patients, who have returned from the Hajj, are old and have chronic diseases, all of them were treated normally and were recovering after returning from the Hajj. The senior health official insisted that his ministry has seriously examined Thai Hajj pilgrims and has sent Thai doctors to Mecca in Saudi Arabia to treat each patient before allowing the person to return to Thailand, noting that, at airports in Thailand, health officials also advised pilgrims to see doctors if they developed high temperatures, coughed and puffed. The senior Thai health official announced that people can be confident in his ministry's surveillance system against the corona virus, as the health of the pilgrims is to be closely monitored for one month after their return from Saudi Arabia. (TNA)