TV Celeb Among New Confirmed Cases of Covid-19

A file photo of Matthew Deane, right.

BANGKOK (Xinhua) — Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported seven new COVID-19 cases, including four members of the same family and celebrity TV actor Matthew Dean.

“There have so far been 82 confirmed coronavirus cases in Thailand, with 35 having recovered, 46 in hospital and one fatality,” said Dr. Suhum Kanchanapimai, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Public Health, in a news briefing on Saturday.

“One of the new cases is the mother of one of the 11 patients who contracted the virus from sharing drinks and cigarettes. Another patient is a man who returned recently from Japan and infected his daughter, son-in-law and niece,” Suhum said.

“The 81st patient is a 20-year-old female student who returned from Japan, while the 82nd patient is a TV actor and owner of a boxing camp, who is now being treated at Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok,” Suhum added.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The actor, Matthew Deane on Saturday posted on his social media page warning those who have been in contact with him, saying “Hello, I’m Matthew. This is NOT a joke, for those that have been in close contact with me the last few days please take precautions I have the COVID-19.”

All staff working on the same floor of a Thai TV station building with Dean were asked to stay home for a 14-day quarantine period.

The floor of the TV station building was later cleansed with disinfectants.