Screen visitors from HK, Britain to stop Omicron BA2.2 reaching Thailand, top health official warns
Arrivals from Britain and Hong Kong must be screened for the Omicron BA.2.2 subvariant, warned Public Health Commission vice chair Dr Chalermchai Boonyaleephan.
In his Blockdit post on Saturday, Chalermchai said Omicron BA.2.2 is severely impacting Hong Kong where weekly average Covid-19 infections have soared to 5,425 per million people, compared to 315 per million in Thailand.
"Meanwhile Hong Kong's seven-day death rate from Covid-19 is 30 per million people, compared to 0.85 in Thailand," he said.
"Apart from Omicron BA.2.2, the rise in Hong Kong's Covid-19 cases may be due to the low number of vaccinated people as well."
Chalermchai also confirmed that Omicron BA.2.2 has not yet been discovered in Thailand.
He emphasised that Omicron, which is the dominant strain in Thailand, is spreading four times faster than Delta and has mutated into three subvariants: BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3.
He said BA.1 and BA.2 have been discovered in Thailand while the number of patients infected with BA.2 is likely to increase rapidly.
Virus mutations commonly occur in areas where a lot of Covid-19 infections are found, he added.