THE PUBLIC Health Ministry said this afternoon (Dec. 13) that eight overseas arrivals have tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19 during Dec. 1-11 with confirmation whether three others too are similarly infected pending, Sanook.com said.
Dr. Supakit Sirilak, head of the Medical Sciences Department, said the strain was found among travellers coming to Thailand from a few countries including Spain, Nigeria, UK and the UAE but no cases have emerged within the country so far.
He also addressed concerns of Delta and Omicron combining and creating a new variant, saying this is possible but the situation in Thailand is not too worrying because Thai agencies are adequately monitoring new strains.
Even if a hybrid variant emerges there is nothing to worry about, he said, while urging the public to have confidence in the Thai surveillance system yet at the same time strictly maintaining preventive measures.
Meanwhile Dr. Wichan Pawan, head of General Communicable Diseases Division, Department of Disease Control, said the Omicron variant has now spread to 69 countries with Thailand detecting infection among travellers from other countries.
Although no infection of this strain has been found within the country people still have to be careful, he added.
A chart released by the ministry gave the following details about the eight confirmed cases and three potentially so as follows:
1) American man, 35, came from Spain destination Bangkok, Test & Go procedure, Omicron;
2) Thai woman, 46, came from Nigeria destination Bangkok, alternate state quarantine (ASQ) procedure, Omicron;
3) Thai woman, 36, came from Nigeria destination Bangkok, ASQ procedure, Omicron;
4) Thai man, 41, came from Democratic Republic of the Congo destination Bangkok, Sandbox procedure, potentially Omicron;
5) Thai man, 39, came from Nigeria destination Bangkok, Sandbox procedure, Omicron;
6) Colombian man, 62, came from Nigeria destination Bangkok, Sandbox procedure, potentially Omicron;
7) British man, 51, came from UK destination Chonburi, Test & Go procedure, Omicron;
8) Thai man, 37, came from South Africa destination Nonthaburi, ASQ procedure, Omicron;
9) American man, 40, came from USA/South Korea destination Bangkok, Test & Go procedure, Omicron;
10) Belarusian man, 51, came from United Arab Emirates destination Bangkok, Test & Go procedure, Omicron;
11) British man, 31, came from UK destination Bangkok, Test and Go procedure, potentially Omicron.
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Top: A mobile phone with Omicron variant Covid-19 text. Photo: NNT
Home Page A chart with Omicron variant Covid-19 text. Photo: Getty Images and published by Abplive.com
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