740 Omicron cases found in 33 provinces
Thailand has detected 740 cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant to date, comprising 489 overseas arrivals and 251 local infections, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday.
Although the majority of new Covid-19 cases are still those of the Delta variant, Omicron cases have started increasingly popping up, said Medical Sciences Department director-general Dr Suphakit Sirilak.
“Omicron infections have already been found in at least 33 provinces, of which 19 are known to have cases from local infections,” he said. “Many of those locally infected patients are linked to transmission from the Kalasin cluster.”
Suphakit said Bangkok, Kalasin and Phuket accounted for more than 60 per cent of the country’s Omicron cases, while local infections are mostly linked to overseas visitors.
The first Omicron case in Thailand was detected in a US national on November 30, exactly one month after the country reopened selected provinces on November 1 under the Test & Go scheme, in which foreign visitors were allowed to enter the country without having to quarantine, provided they tested negative via the RT-PCR method on arrival.
The fast spreading Omicron variant prompted the government to suspend the scheme on December 22 and mandate a second RT-PCR test for foreign visitors on the 5th or 6th day of their stay in Thailand.