BANGKOK - Thai officials played down the possibility of "super spreading" of the coronavirus on Thursday as they reported a group of friends were responsible for the biggest daily rise in the country's cases since the outbreak began.
Officials reported 11 new cases, taking the national tally to 70. One person has died.
The new patients are a group of friends who appeared to pass the virus to each other after one of their number was first infected by a tourist who has since returned to Hong Kong, officials said.
The male and female friends, all Thai nationals aged in their 20s and 30s, socialized and shared drinks and cigarettes on 2 occasions in late February.
"The first patient was infected from a tourist from a dangerous communicable disease area," Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department, told reporters. "After that, the person had 2 social activities with close friends."
Officials stressed the foreign source of the group infection and announced they were stepping up travel restrictions for visitors from a list of "designated dangerous communicable disease areas" announced last week. Those include South Korea, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Italy and Iran.
"Visitors from the 6 places will need to present medical certificates before they can obtain boarding passes. They must be prepared for a full state quarantine when they arrive," said Sukhum Kanchanapimai, the health ministry's permanent secretary.
It was not immediately clear where the state quarantine will take place or when it will begin.
Tourism-reliant Thailand had previously said Wednesday that it was temporarily suspending the issuance of visas on arrival and visa waivers to visitors from 22 countries and territories, including China.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SYDNEY - The coronavirus outbreak could deliver a painful multi-billion-dollar hit to Australian universities, as high-paying Chinese students are forced to defer their studies, economists warned Thursday.
Top universities stand to lose around US$2 billion (Aus$3 billion) in fees alone, according to preliminary estimates from analysts at Standard & Poor's.
Under open-ended travel restrictions imposed by the government in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, non-Australian citizens or permanent residents who have been in China since Feb. 1 are not allowed into Australia.
The virus's outbreak came in between Australia's academic years -- which begin in February -- and as many of the country's roughly 165,000 Chinese university students had returned home for the Lunar New Year.
"Our calculation is one of higher-education fee revenues only, and excludes the broader economic contribution from students to accommodation, tourism, and domestic consumption of goods and services," S&P said in a report.
Foreign students are a vital income stream for Australian universities and one that has grown exponentially in recent years.
Australia is now 1 of the top 3 destinations for foreign students worldwide.
Student representatives told AFP that many of those students have not been able to return in time to start this semester and fear missing the whole year because of the way courses are constructed.
Universities have offered to defer placements and reimburse tuition fees, but many are also trying to buy time.
The University of Sydney has extended the last date students have to be on campus to March 30 -- more than a month after classes were due to begin -- and is trying to arrange for remote teaching.
Australia's top universities are expected to be disproportionately hit, but they should be able to absorb the blow, at least temporarily.
"We believe they have some buffer in free cash, leverage, and operating margin ratios to absorb a temporary shock to revenues," S&P said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hong Kong was testing over 1,800 passengers and crew on a cruise ship for a coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, after some crew members reported having fever and other symptoms.
Authorities were not letting anyone leave the ship without permission.
The Chinese-ruled city's health department said Wednesday 90 percent of the passengers were Hong Kongers and no mainland Chinese were on board.
Previously, 3 mainland Chinese that had been on the ship between Jan. 19 and 24 were found to have contracted the virus.
The World Dream ship, operated by Dream Cruises, was denied entry in the southern Taiwan port of Kaohsiung on Tuesday. On Monday, the ship visited Taiwan's northern Keelung port.
It was not clear how long passengers and crew would be kept on the ship.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEOUL - A South Korean woman has tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Thailand, South Korean officials said Tuesday, the first foreign tourist reported to have been infected after a visit to the southeast Asian nation.
The 42-year-old, identified only as Patient 16, flew back to South Korea on Jan. 19 after traveling in Thailand, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.
Treated since developing chills and other symptoms from Jan. 25, she did not improve until Sunday, the KCDC added, and was confirmed positive on Tuesday, following checks at Chonnam National University Hospital.
The statement did not explicitly rule out a visit to China, however.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
