BANGKOK — The government’s response center to the coronavirus epidemic on Tuesday reported an additional death related to COVID-19 and 34 more cases of infection, raising the total tally to 2,613.
Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration, confirmed that the country’s 41st person to die of the virus is a 52-year-old public bus driver in Bangkok reported earlier by the media.
He said the patient had hypertension and cardiomegaly prior to the infection. The patient also reportedly attended a social gathering where at least 10 people have contracted the coronavirus, but the spokesman did not elaborate on where the party took place.
Twenty-seven of the 34 new cases were those who were close to individuals previously tested positive for the virus, while another group of four patients were either infected from overseas or working in a crowded environment, Taweesin added.
Taweesin said a person recently returned from a religious ceremony in Indonesia tested positive for the coronavirus while the patient was placed under state quarantine in Satun province.
As of Tuesday, 1,167 infected patients are being treated at hospitals, while 1,405 patients have recovered, the spokesman said.
Despite concerns of a possible shortage of ventilators in the near future, Taweesin said the country has enough machines and other medical equipment to tackle the rising number of patients.
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