Thailand’s health ministry announced on 3 Feb 2020 that Thailand has marked progress in the treatment of coronavirus. A 71-year-old Chinese patient from Wuhan infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) showed a dramatic improvement in 48 hrs after a cocktail mixture of anti-virals used to treat flu and HIV was administered by Thai doctors.

“The lab result of positive on the coronavirus turned negative in 48 hours after applying this mixture, but this is not a definitive method for treating the virus, but it helps improve the patient's condition,” said Dr Kriengsak Attipornwanich at Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok during Health Ministry’s media briefing. Atipornwanich pointed out that further work is needed to determine whether the method can be used as a standard form of treatment. “After an evaluation meeting to be held Monday with Thailand’s Health Ministry, the mixture could be applied to other patients as well” he added.

The doctors combined the anti-flu drug oseltamivir with lopinavir and ritonavir, anti-virals used to treat HIV, Kriengsak said, adding the ministry was awaiting research results to prove the findings.

Thailand so far has detected 19 confirmed cases of the virus believed to have originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which is under lockdown. That is the second-highest number of cases outside of China, with Japan recording 20. So far, eight patients in Thailand have recovered and returned home, while 11 remain in hospital. Thai authorities are trying to balance screening of inbound Chinese visitors with the economic needs of its tourist sector, which is heavily reliant on arrivals from the mainland.

The novel coronavirus, so named because under the microscope it resembles a crown, has killed at least 304 people in China, with more than 14,000 infected. The virus is said to have been transmitted to humans from animals, particularly bats. Cases have also been reported in Japan, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the U.S., France, Germany, North Korea, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Vietnam, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., Russia, Nepal, Cambodia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Finland and India. The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak an international emergency.