Teamwork Management and Benefit of Telemedicine in COVID-19 Outbreak Control on an Offshore Vessel in the Gulf of Thailand, Songkhla Province, Thailand: A Case Report.

In May 2021, there was a COVID-19 outbreak on board a construction support ship traveling from India to Thailand. Controlling the outbreak on this offshore vessel from 11 May to 2 June 2021 was applied. This case report describes the teamwork management of COVID-19 control on the vessel in the Gulf of Thailand. We summarized the COVID-19 outbreak control process on board, including active COVID-19-infected cases (CoIC) and close contacts (CoCC) identification, isolation, quarantine, treatment, and clinical monitoring using telemedicine to report their health measurements twice daily, including emergency conditions if they occurred. Active COVID-19 cases were identified by two rounds of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests in all crew members, in which 7 of 29 (24.1%) showed positive results. Both the CoIC and CoCC were strictly and absolutely isolated and quarantined on the vessel. No serious medical conditions were reported during the monitoring. The third-round RT-PCR tests were conducted, and all tested negative one week later. Teamwork management in proactive COVID-19 case identification, isolation, comprehensive treatment, and close monitoring of health conditions using telemedicine devices is beneficial for controlling the COVID-19 outbreak on board.

Integrative Effects between a Bubble and Seal Program and Workers' Compliance to Health Advice on Successful COVID-19 Transmission Control in a Factory in Southern Thailand.

Applying health measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission caused disruption of businesses. A practical plan to balance public health and business sustainability during the pandemic was needed. Herein, we describe a "Bubble and Seal" (B&S) program implemented in a frozen seafood factory in southern Thailand. We enrolled 1539 workers who lived in the factory dormitories. First, the workers who had a high fatality risk were triaged by RT-PCR tests, quarantined and treated if they had COVID-19. Newly diagnosed or suspected COVID-19 workers underwent the same practices. The non-quarantined workers were regulated to work and live in their groups without contact across the groups. Workers' personal hygiene and preventive measures were strongly stressed. Between the 6th and 9th weeks of the program, the post-COVID-19 infection status (PCIS) of all participants was evaluated by mass COVID-19 antibody or RT-PCR tests. Finally, 91.8% of the workers showed positive PCIS, which was above the number required for program exit. Although no workers had received a vaccination, there was only one case of severe COVID-19 pneumonia, and no evidence of COVID-19 spreading to the surrounding communities. Implementation of the B&S program and workers' adherence to health advice was the key to this success.