Health
Thailand Records it’s First Delta Plus Variant Case
Dr. Chawetsan Namwat, from the Department of Disease Control, said yesterday that Thailand has recorded its first case of the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19. The Delta variant offshoot of AY.4.2, is also known as Delta Plus.
Dr. Chawetsan said there is no cause for concern over its severity over vaccine resistance and it’s being closely monitored. He did not elaborate on the case but said that the Health Department will hold a press conference later today to provide more details.
He told Thai PBS that, over the past 28 days, Delta Plus cases in the United Kingdom have been on the increase. They have accounted for 6% of all the covid-19 cases involving other variants, mostly the Delta variant.
He said the World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet upgraded the Delta Plus variant to a virus of concern, telling people in Thailand not to be overly concerned.
Read: American Vaccinated with Moderna Dies from Covid-19
Presently, new COVID-19 infections in Bangkok and surrounding provinces have been on the decline, Dr. Chawetsan said. Even more, infections in southern Thailand are still rising, accounting for 23% of all new infections nationwide.
He also said since April 1st this year funerals have been a major cause of infections. Above all, because people tend to socialize, eat and drink together, sometimes sharing the same glasses and not protecting themselves with face masks.
Several clusters of infections have also been detected in flooded areas. Especially among children and family members who play together.
On vaccinations, he said that from February till now, over 70 million vaccine doses have been administered in Thailand. Over thirty-nine million people have already received their first vaccine shot and over 28 million have received two shots while 2,133,579 have received the third shot.
To date, 76.2% of Thailand’s population has been vaccinated, with 100% in Bangkok, 82.7% in Phuket, 72.4% in Samut Prakan and over 50% in the rest of the country having been inoculated.
