Super variant Delta Plus rears its head in Thailand
The even more quickly transmitted version of the Covid-19 Delta variant, Delta Plus, was detected in Thailand in September, when a 49-year-old got infected.
The man had been working in Ayutthaya province, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) said on Monday.
“The case was uncovered by the Army Medical Department in September,” said Dr Chawetsan Namwat, director of the DDC's emergency disease and health hazards control division. “The Delta Plus variant can spread more easily than its Delta counterpart. It is believed to have originated in England where it was detected in 6 per cent of Covid-19 patients.
“In Thailand, the Delta Plus situation is still at the monitoring phase,” he added.
Meanwhile, the overall Covid-19 situation in Thailand is improving, with the number of new infections and deaths generally dropping, including in densely populated areas like Greater Bangkok, DDC reported.
“However, we are closely monitoring areas where infections tend to rise, such as Nakhon Si Thammarat, Tak, Rayong and Chanthaburi,” he said. “These provinces have recently reported new cluster cases linked to funerals or other social activities where people did not wear face masks or shared meals and glasses with others.”
As of Monday, Thailand had administered 70,590,025 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, with 55.5 per cent of the population having received the first jab and 39.4 per cent their second jab. Bangkok is the only province where nearly everybody has received their first jab, followed by Phuket, where 82.7 per cent of the population has received the first vaccine.