Tourism minister sees little chance of Omicron outbreak in Thailand

He said 330 tourists from eight African countries where the risk of Omicron transmission is high, are under public health officers' control. They will be quarantined for up to two weeks and will undergo three RT-PCR tests, he added.

Of the 330 tourists, 252 arrived under Thailand’s sandbox scheme and 78 under the quarantine scheme between November 15 and 27.

“The Public Health Ministry is still able to contain the spread of Covid-19,” he said.

Phiphat added that at present there are no worries about an Omicron outbreak because nobody in Thailand has tested positive for the strain, so far.

He also advised people not to worry about travellers from the eight high-risk African countries because they fall under the Immigration Bureau’s control.

As of December 1, Thailand has banned flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

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