Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong presided over the press briefing held at Phuket office of Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) in Phuket Town yesterday.
Present at the meeting was PPHO Chief Thanit Sermkaew, Deputy Chief Dr Krit Sakulpat, Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Dr Chalermpong Sukontapol.
“The Phuket Government, the PPHO and other relevant officers are still screening people’s body temperature at Phuket International Airport, all piers, hotels, department stores, and schools,” Vice Governor Pichet said.
The PPHO today (Feb 11) will conduct educational activities at the Srinagarindra The Princess Mother School Phuket in order to teach students how to protect themselves from coronavirus, he added.
“Commercial Affairs Phuket officers went to inspect shops in order to prevent overcharging for face masks. Officers will search and prosecute store owners who sell face masks, as face masks are allowed to be sold only at drug stores or medical-related places,” he said.
The chief of the Commercial Affairs Phuket office, Sasiwimon Mongkhon, last Thursday reported that her office had investigated 250 complaints of retailers overcharging for face masks, but found none of them guilty enough to be charged. They were “just increased prices”, she said.
However, The Phuket News by that time had already received evidence of one retailer charging B440 for a pack of two face masks. (See story here.)
As for the number of people in Phuket who may or may not have contracted the virus, the last report by officials confirming any persons as being under observation on suspicion of being infected was on Jan 31, when Vachira Phuket Hospital Director Dr Chalermpong announced that six more tourists in Phuket were under observation.
However, Dr Chalermpong stressed, “They are only suspected of being infected, and are under observation only.”
The six new cases brought to 29 the total number of people in Phuket held for observation since officials started scanning new arrivals for elevated body temperatures on Jan 5.
Of those, 19 had been already discharged from hospitals, Dr Chalermpong said on Jan 31, adding that the remaining 10 are in hospital care: eight at Vachira Phuket Hospital, one at Patong Hospital and one at Thalang Hospital. (See story here.)
Dr Preecha Prempree, Deputy Chief of the national Department of Disease Control, on Jan 26 ordered every provincial office of the Public Relations Department in the country to provide daily updates on prevention progress and the flu situation in their respective provinces. (See story here.)