"coronavirus"

Thailand’s Omicron infection rate is currently rising but will begin to drop in March, a respiratory specialist forecast on Monday.

The Omicron subvariant BA.2 is spreading rapidly in around 40 countries, including Singapore, India, Denmark, Sweden and the UK, Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine lecturer Thira Woratanarat said on Monday.

The Jiaxing Fruit Wholesale Market in China's Hangzhou city is serious about ensuring all imported fruit is safe from Covid-19, former Department of Agricultural Extension official Sakda Sinives said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Saturday kicked off proactive Covid-19 testing in 80 communities to screen people who may be at risk of infection.

The Public Health Ministry on Saturday approved plans to administer a fourth Covid-19 jab in February to people living in 10 tourism pilot provinces.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said Chulalongkorn University's Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology is seeking volunteers who have already received two AstraZeneca jabs.

Public Health Ministry reported on Sunday (January 23) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 7,686 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 186 of whom are foreign travellers.

Omicron is fast becoming the dominant Covid-19 variant in Thailand instead of Delta, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Thailand currently faces the beginning of a potential fifth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, the coronavirus has killed over 21,000 people in Thailand.

Thai football club Muang Thong United’s Uzbek midfielder Sardor Mirzaev on Monday tested positive for Covid-19.

An 86-year-old woman, who had apparently received two Pfizer jabs, became the first person in Thailand to succumb to the Omicron variant, Songkhla public health authorities said on Sunday.

The government will likely allow foreign students to enter Japan in stages, after suspending such entries due to the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus overseas, government sources said Friday.