Thailand Confirms First MERS Case, Urges Public Not To Panic

BANGKOK, June 19 (Bernama) -- Thai Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has urged the public not to panic following the confirmation of the first case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), here.

Prayuth said the government had the experience of handling similar situations such as the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), bird flu and Ebola outbreaks in the past, and had been preparing preventive measures.

"Confident or not confident (in handling MERS) depends on the cooperation of the people. Everyone has to be careful and they should see a doctor if they suspect to have that virus," he said when asked whether he was confident of being able to control the deadly virus from spreading.

"I cannot control the disease (MERS)," he added.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry yesterday confirmed the first case of MERS, a 75-year-old man from Oman, who travelled to Bangkok and had been receiving medical treatment in a private hospital since June 15.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commerce Minister, Apiradi Tantraporn, said the government was closely monitoring the impact of the MERS outbreak on consumer spending and the country's export sector.

The outbreak should not affect domestic spending and the export sector, she said, confident that the relevant government agencies would be able to control the situation.

"Trade will be promoted as usual, while the people's spending power should not be impacted," she added.

The ministry has instructed the Internal Trade Department to closely monitor the price of medical equipment such as sanitary masks as people will need more of that to prevent infection.

Somchai Pornrattacharoen, president of the Thai Retail and Wholesale Association, said the MERS case had not yet affected consumer spending.

However, with the outbreak, people might reduce the frequency of going shopping by purchasing goods in big volumes to avoid going to public areas, said Somchai.

Small retail shops located near residential areas should be a better choice for consumers to purchase things if they wanted to avoid crowded places, he added.

-- BERNAMA