Thai PM urges people not to be panic over MERS

BANGKOK, June 19 (TNA) - As the condition of the first confirmed patient of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in Thailand, a visitor from the Middle East, remains stable, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha has urged people not to be panic over any outbreak of the fatal virus, saying that the deadly disease will become under control if people cooperate. The prime minister, who is also Chief of the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), told journalists on Friday that Thailand has received compliment from foreign countries on solving deadly bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus earlier and it is now hoped that the country will, again, successfully control the current spread of MERS. The prime minister stressed that from now on, authorities concerned need to check how many persons had contacted with the first MERS patient in Thailand, who is now receiving treatment at state-run Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute. The prime minister noted that it is not easy for a person to contract MERS, suggesting that in case of suspicion, the person should take a diagnosis at a hospital. Bundit Bosereewong, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bangkok-based Windsor Suites Hotel, told reporters he believes that the Thai Ministry of Public Health should be able to contain MERS, proposing that the ministry cooperate with airports officials in order to control the deadly virus in the country. Meanwhile, Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute Director Dr. Jariya Saengsajja confirmed that the condition of the first MERS patient in Thailand remains stable, and that the deadly virus will not spread to outsiders because the patient has been quarantined at the institute, together with three members of his family, in order to prevent the fatal virus from spreading to other people. The 75-year-old man from the Middle East arrived in Thailand to receive medical treatment for his heart disease at a private hospital on June 15 and doctors at the hospital later alerted the Ministry of Public Health after they had found the man had respiratory illnesses similar to MERS and the foreign patient was, thus, transferred to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute in Bangkok's neighbouring Nonthaburi Province on early Thursday. (TNA)