THAILAND is racing ahead with contact tracing after a 29-year-old Buriram United Football Club player from Uzbekistan tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. 

To date, the Disease Control Department has screened nearly 145 people, including football players and staff from three clubs, who had possible contact with the infected midfielder.

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said in a statement today that 47 individuals identified as close contacts, including Buriram United Football Club players and staff, had undergone Covid-19 testing.

“Forty-five of them tested negative while two are pending a re-test,” it said. 

On Friday, the Public Health Ministry’s Medical Science Department director-general Dr Opas Karnkawinpong confirmed that the Uzbek footballer was Covid-19 positive. 

A total of 1,115 individuals, including referees, players and people involved with the Thai League 1 and 2, were tested on Tuesday ahead of the resumption of the Thai football season yesterday, and the Uzbek was the only positive result to come back on Thursday.

Prior to the pre-match test, the football player and his teammates had two friendly matches with Khon Kaen United and Ratchaburi Football Club.

The CCSA said all football players and staff, as well as trainees and drivers from the two clubs, also underwent Covid-19 testing and are awaiting their results.

Meanwhile, Buriram public health officers have traced 367 individuals, including 27 identified under the high-risk group, who had contact with the footballer.

The Uzbek footballer arrived in Thailand on August 13 and completed the 14-day quarantine on August 27. 

Earlier, Chulalongkorn University’s Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology head Dr Yong Puworawan said the virus incubation period for the footballer could have been longer than 14 days and it was unlikely the infection was locally transmitted. 

Thailand has 3,473 reported Covid-19 cases, with 58 fatalities. – Bernama, September 13, 2020.