A district chief in Nakhon Ratchasima filed a police complaint on Monday accusing a Ugandan man and his Thai wife, both infected with COVID-19, of concealing details of their movements from health officials.
The complaint was filed with Soeng Sang police by local kamnan Sanit Srithawee, on behalf of the director of Soeng Sang Hospital.
Mr Srithawee said that on 29th April the Ugandan, 32, and his 22-year-old wife, from tambon Non Sombun, went to Soeng Sang Hospital on arrival from Bangkok.
They told hospital staff they wanted to take a COVID-19 test, but did not tell them that on 27th April they visited the husband’s elder brother at his house in Bangkok and learned later that the man had COVID-19.
At Soeng Sang Hospital they insisted they were not in the at-risk category. After intense questioning, they admitted to having met the husband’s elder brother. Subsequent tests came back positive for the virus for both of them.
As a result of their hiding vital information, two medical staff at the hospital were quarantined.
The couple face charges of intentionally hiding COVID-19 information in violation of the Communicable Disease Act of 2015. The offence carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and/or a fine of 40,000 baht.
Police said they would be formally charged after they had undergone treatment and recovered. Their names were not released.
