Thailand tracks infections after local contagions

Bangkok, Sep 15 (efe-epa).- An Uzbek footballer with Buriram United in Thailand has recovered from Covid-19 but will complete quarantine along with the rest of his team, the club said Tuesday.

Akbar Ismatullaev, 29, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday and his teammates have been in isolation since Saturday as a preventative measure.

Club chairman Newin Chidchob wrote on Facebook that a test result on Monday showed he no longer has Covid-19 but the team will continue its 14-day quarantine as a precaution.

Buriram United was unable to play its first game in the new Thai league, which restarted this week after a six-month hiatus due to the pandemic.

Ismatullaev, who had no symptoms, arrived in Thailand on 13 August and tested negative after a mandatory 14-day quarantine period in a Bangkok hotel.

He was diagnosed during testing for 1,115 people on the eve of the start of the season on Saturday, according to health officials.

Specialists have said there is a possibility he brought the virus to Thailand from Uzbekistan but that it did not manifest itself until days after the quarantine.

A total of 382 of 421 people who had contact with the player have tested negative, while the results of the others have not come through, according to the country’s Covid-19 management center (CCSA).

Thailand, the first country with cases of Covid-19 outside of China, recently went 100 days without detecting any local infections.

This streak was broken when a nightclub DJ tested positive on 3 September at a prison where he had been admitted for a drug offense.