key: cord-0797604-j36gnu0e authors: Joob, B.; Wiwanitkit, V. title: COVID-19 in medical personnel: observation from Thailand date: 2020-02-27 journal: J Hosp Infect DOI: 10.1016/j.jhin.2020.02.016 sha: ca6521945ea38512455bd852baab2bd498d40871 doc_id: 797604 cord_uid: j36gnu0e nan epidemiological investigation, case report, specimen collection, epidemic site disinfection, close contact management, emergency monitoring, health education, risk assessment, technical guidance, etc. Inspectors detecting the virus wear protective clothing, including N95 masks and goggles. Medical staff have been sent to bus stations, quays, rail stations and airports to undertake screening. Fever clinics in Zhuhai operate 'around the clock'. Zhuhai Health Bureau staff have inspected all medical institutes and drinking water production plants in Zhuhai. Zhuhai, as an important part of GuangdongeHong KongeMacau Great Bay, faces major challenges due to its large immigrant population. However, much has been learned from this emergency, and we hope that some of our experiences will assist others in planning responses in their regions. Sir, COVID-19 is a new emerging coronavirus infection that has spread to several countries [1] . Thailand is a country in Indochina that has experienced many imported cases of this new disease [2] . An important consideration is nosocomial infection with this disease. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at particular risk of infection during the current epidemic. Here we describe our experience of COVID-19 amongst HCWs in Thailand. At the time of writing (21 st February 2020), there were 35 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Thailand, including one HCW. The HCW is a nurse attendant and became infected during routine medical work in a Thai hospital. The HCW had contact with a patient with COVID-19 who had been diagnosed with dengue at the time. As dengue is not a respiratory infection, no respiratory infection control measures were in place for this patient. However, the hospitalized patient with dengue later received an additional diagnosis of COVID-19. This experience shows that respiratory infection control has to be considered for any patient with a possible infection, regardless of whether or not they have overt respiratory symptoms. Indeed, it is now known that some patients with COVID-19 do not have fever or respiratory symptoms at the time of presentation [3] . COVID-19 can be easily missed in tropical countries, either because it occurs in conjunction with a common infectious disease (such as dengue), or because COVID-19 infection is misdiagnosed as another more common infection. None declared. None. Emerging new coronavirus infection in Wuhan, China: situation in early 2020 Imported cases of 2019-novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infections in Thailand: mathematical modelling of the outbreak Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China The authors wish to thank Zhuhai CDC for providing the necessary support for this study. None declared.