AN AMERICAN tourist travelling to Thailand from Spain has been diagnosed as being infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and a timeline of journey shows he left Spain on Nov. 29 and reached Thailand at midnight Nov. 30 after a nine-hour stopover in Dubai, Sanook.com said this afternoon (Dec. 6)
Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, the head of the Public Health Ministry’s Disease Control Department, said coronavirus is mutating all the time and there are now Omicron cases across the world yet not a single fatality reported so far.
This variant, which seems to have emerged in southern Africa from the end of October to early November, is milder than Delta.
However it has to be watched as it has now spread to 46 countries with Thailand becoming the 47th, he said.
Regarding the American patient, he is a 35-year-old businessman who has been in Spain for one year and has no underlying diseases. He is asymptomatic and had received a Johnson &Johnson single dose jab in the US.
He had a total of 19 contacts, 17 were at the hotel and two at the airport all not high risk.
Earlier report: American travelling here from Spain is Thailand’s first Omicron case
Below is the timeline of his journey:
Nov. 28, 2021: Underwent a PCR test in Spain and got a negative result. Went to have dinner with friends with none of them having got infected upto now.
Nov. 29, 2021: Flew from Spain to Dubai by Emirates Airline (EK142), stayed in Dubai for nine hours, did not talk to anyone and wore a face mask at all times.
Nov. 30, ‘2021: Flew from Dubai to Bangkok by Emirates Airline (EK372), disembarking at midnight. As he entered under the Test & Go scheme, he gave his samples to the contracting hospital and went to the hotel,
Dec. 1, 2021: Received notification from the hospital that the Covid was detected in his samples, Ct : ORF=33.10 , N gene=30.71.
Dec. 3, 2021: Samples were sent to the Medical Sciences Department for confirmation.
The Test & Go entry scheme which started on Nov. 1 exempts vaccinated travellers coming from eligible countries from mandatory quarantine.
CAPTIONS:
Top: A Thai traditional giant statue wears a protective mask, amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, on Dec. 15, 2020. Photo: Reuters and published by VOA News
Home Page: Medical workers handling Covid tests. The Thai headline says, “Timeline of Thailand’s first Omicron.” Photo: Sanook.com
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