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Thailand Rules Out Immediate Lockdown Over Omicron Variant
Thailand’s prime minister has insisted that despite concerns over the new Coronavirus Omicron, the country will not reimpose an immediate national lockdown.
Nonetheless, he said, the schedule for easing anti-Covid measures for night entertainment venues might be postponed another month due to concerns over the variant found in at least 24 countries around the world.
Gen Prayut explained that Thailand now has RT-PCR screening tests, along with quarantine measures while results are awaited. Lockdown will be suspended, for now, the prime minister announced.
Gen Prayut also said that anti-Covid measures for night entertainment venues may be postponed for another month to monitor the situation closely.
Gen Prayut also ordered state agencies to develop remedial measures for nightlife businesses. These measures will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval.
“We must apologize for the changes. As soon as the new virus appeared, we must come up with such measures,” he said.
No Omicron infections in Thailand
Although the old Covid-19 variants still exist, vaccines are still necessary despite the new variant, he said. There have been no cases of Omicron infections reported in Thailand to date.”
Additionally, Gen Prayut encouraged business operators to study anti-Covid measures to ensure their businesses and activities can be reopened safely.
At the same time, Chawetsan Namwat, director of the Emergency Health Hazard and Disease Control Division, says officials are tracking 782 tourists, including 252 from eight risk-prone countries in southern Africa, who entered the country on Nov 15 to repeat the RT-PCR test.
There are eight countries in this group: Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
Thailand has implemented a restriction on visitors from risky countries due to the discovery of the Omicron variant. The restriction went into effect on Wednesday.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) officials will also visit communities where there are African residents. Measures to prevent travellers from Africa from entering Thailand have been modified to extend quarantine periods.
Meanwhile, Virologist Yong Poovorawan, head of Chulalongkorn University’s Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology, is developing a test that detects the Omicron variant.
