Thai officials: People returning from Indonesia infected

Thai officials said on Wednesday that more than half of those returning from a trip to an Islamic mass gathering in Indonesia had been infected with COVID-19.

Fourty-two of the group of 76 who returned to southern Thailand on a chartered flight Monday tested positive for the virus.

The group had traveled to Sulawesi, Indonesia on 17 March to attend a ceremony arranged by Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat.

Thousands from Southeast Asia were expected to attend.

Many had already arrived at the site by the time officials eventually canceled the event, fearing a repeat of the outbreak that spread a few weeks earlier at a similar event in Malaysia, which resulted in over 600 infections.

The virus causes mild to moderate symptoms in most people, but for some, especially older adults and those with underlying health problems, it can cause pneumonia and lead to death.

The Thai returnees from Sulawesi were unable to take an earlier flight home.

Songkhla province Governor Jaruwat Kliangklao said the city is providing a state quarantine facility for the returnees at a dormitory inside a sport complex, while those tested positive are being sent to hospitals for treatment.

As of Wednesday, Thailand had confirmed 2,369 COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths.