A man wears a mask to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as he walks near the Grand Palace at Bangkok, Thailand February 2, 2020. (Photo: Reuters)

The doctors from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok said on Sunday that the medical cocktail has produced initial results showing vast improvement 48 hours after applying the treatment on one 71-year-old Chinese woman. The woman was admitted first to Hua Hin Hospital and then transferred to Rajavithi Hospital last Wednesday. After finding she had serious symptoms, the doctors decided to use oseltamivir, an anti-flu drug used to treat the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS), as well as lopinavir and ritonavir, two HIV-AIDS drugs.

From being exhausted before, she was able to sit up in bed 12 hours later and the test finally turned negative after 48 hours of administering the medications, the doctors said.

Doctors from the Thai Public Health Ministry are now continuing studying the effects of the combined medications in treating coronavirus patients. Thailand so far has confirmed 19 cases of the virus, one Thai taxi driver and the others Chinese tourists.