Thailand Reacts to its first Case of Omicron Coronavirus Variant

In Thailand, a Thai-US citizen who was travelling from Spain late last month has been detected with the Omicron coronavirus variant, a health official confirmed on Monday.

Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, told AsiaOne that Thailand is now the 47th country to have identified the virus variant in a man who arrived on Nov 29.

Dr Opas said the patient, who lived in Spain for one year, had mild symptoms and is the first confirmed case of Omicron variant. He said health authorities are testing those who have come into contact with the man but say all contacts are at low risk so far.

Despite declining to comment on this case, the Spanish Health Ministry stated: “Our detection system has so far been successful. We have detected five cases in Spain.”

Read: Health Officials Detect First Omicron Variant Case in Thailand

In response to concerns about the Omicron variant, Thailand banned travellers from eight African countries including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe at the start of December.

According to Dr Opas, authorities have also limited travel from other African countries and are monitoring international travellers for possible cases.

On Monday, Thailand reported 4,000 new coronavirus infections and 22 new deaths, bringing the total to more than 2.1 million cases and 20,966 deaths since the pandemic began last year.

Thailand’s health ministry data showed that more than 57% of people have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.