Vaccinated Tourist from UAE Tests Positive for Covid-19 in Phuket

Health department officials have reported the first case of covid-19 among vaccinated tourists on the Island of Phuket in Southern Thailand. A man from the United Arab Emirates who arrived in Phuket in a tour group on Tuesday tested positive upon arrival.

The man is the first vaccinated tourist found with the virus since the province was reopened on July 1 under the Phuket Sandbox scheme, he said.

The provincial health department reported that a sample swab was taken from the tourist on his arrival at Phuket international airport on Tuesday, before he went to his hotel. Between 10pm-11pm, the test result came out positive.

Health department officials immediately informed the manager of the hotel and took the tourist to a hospital for treatment. Other tourists in the same group had been placed in 14-day quarantine at a hotel provided by the province for observation and Covid-19 testing.

From July 1-7 a total of 2,113 had arrived in Phuket under the Sandbox program, Phuket governor Narong Woonciew said.

Meanwhile, Phuket added two new local infections on Tuesday, bringing total cases there to 755 during the third virus surge, according to the provincial public health office. It said 70% of the population has now received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

Provincial health chief Chaloempong Sukhonthaphol said outstanding groups, including students aged 18 or more, will start getting their first doses this month. Other targets were studends and workers who commute from Phangnga.

Phuket authorities have banned entry of people from other provinces unless they have received two doses, or one shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine at least 14 days earlier.

Source: Bangkok Post