Top doc says keep RT-PCR test amid Omicron fears - 149 tourists Covid positive, 300K register for Thailand Pass

[webfact]

Picture: Channel 7

 

Channel 7 reported that Chulalongkorn University medic Dr Theera Warathanarat has advocated keeping the RT-PCR test as the new Covid-19 variant of concern, Omicron, threatens to come to Thailand. 

 

Theera said that Omicron could be expected to be prevalent on all continents of the world after global reopening. 

 

Most countries are doing quick, cheap and easy ATK tests but he felt that Thailand should keep the RT-PCR test.

 

Otherwise there could be a quick spread of Omicron reminiscent of waves 2 and 3 in the country, said Theera. 

 

He also proposed that people coming from countries where Omicron has been identified should be quarantined for two weeks and have two RT-PCR tests in the first and second weeks.

 

This would include the UK, notes ASEAN NOW.

 

Picture: Channel 7

 

Moves have been afoot to scrap RT-PCR tests for tourists and go with ATK.

 

Meanwhile there were five new cases of tourists testing positive for Covid, two in Test and Go, two in sandbox and one in quarantine.

 

This brought the number among 116,323 tourist arrivals since November 1st to 149 positive tests.

 

Of these 69 were in Test and Go, 38 in the sandbox and 41 in quarantine. 

 

Where the missing one was, the media didn't say. 

 

So far 300,000 tourists are waiting in the wings for a Thailand visit after applying for a Thailand Pass. 

 

Most visitors so far have been from Germany, the US, the UK, Russia and France. 

 

Health insurance plans that meet the long stay visa requirements

 

 

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[Pravda]

Everyone that comes to Thailand should go through one month quarantine ????

[NanLaew]

That's a paltry 0.13% that tested positive on arrival since 1 November.

 

That's a safe as it gets

 

Great work by 99.87% of passengers, the airlines and airport staff and the teams on duty at BKK.

 

Well done.

[NanLaew]

43 minutes ago, Pravda said:

Everyone that comes to Thailand should go through one month quarantine ????

Everyone that has been squatting in Thailand since last March should be taken to the airport, stuck on a flight home and made to 'run the gauntlet'.

 

OK, not all of them. Just the ones that can't help themselves from criticizing all things Thai. Especially those beating up on the CoE and TP processes that they have never been required to try.

 

Oh yes, and those who are crying about the pubs and clubs being shuttered.

Edited November 29, 2021 by NanLaew

[DLock]

I agree that keeping the PCR tests is better than ATK tests on arrival - they are too unreliable.

 

Last thing we want is another ban of tourist arrivals, 2 week quarantines or major lockdowns.

 

...but I fear they are inevitable if Omicron turns out to be equal or worse than Delta.

[khunPer]

The positive tests from people already in quarantine should not be a reason to worry, it's rather the Test & Go tests that should be of concern, and compared with the benefits from some tourists arrivals against the risk of a new outbreak, and the costs of another nationwide lock down...????

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

 

He also proposed that people coming from countries where Omicron has been identified should be quarantined for two weeks and have two RT-PCR tests in the first and second weeks.

This guy really does want to kill off what little remains of Thai tourism and reliant businesses.

 

And Thailand probably has it already anyway, but  as they are constructively testing less than most nations they aint seeing it 

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Most visitors so far have been from Germany, the US, the UK, Russia and France

Most if not all this clown wants to impose stricter sentences on and kill off any current revenue

[Bundooman]

3 hours ago, Pravda said:

Everyone that comes to Thailand should go through one month quarantine ????

Anyone that suggests that should be obliged to join them!

[tomacht8]

Doesn't do much. Just delay the next waves. Instead of controlling the lockdowns via the number of infections, the control variable should better be the available bed capacity in the hospitals and generally home quarantine for cases without symptoms. That mankind believes he can defeat the virus with all his prohibitions and isolation measures is an illusion, as the last 2 years have shown. Just like with the flu, which comes back more or less every year. 

[Tom H]

PCR Test better!

[vivananahuahin]

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00425-6/fulltext

contradictory Lancet document

 

[lanng khao]

19 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

Anyone that suggests that should be obliged to join them!

To be honest I miss that little knock on the door and finding a tray of food on the other side.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus

 

Omicron has sparked alarm among epidemiologists worried the new variant’s mutations could make it more transmissible. Scientists are racing to learn more as new cases are confirmed.

 

South Africa on Thursday confirmed that scientists there had detected a variant with a high number of mutations that could make it more transmissible and adept at evading the body’s immune defenses. On Friday, the World Health Organization labeled it a “variant of concern” and gave it a Greek letter designation: omicron.

...

There is too little research to draw conclusions, with experts urging caution but not panic. Studies are underway to examine how vaccines hold up against the new variant, with some experts expressing initial optimism that they will offer protection.

...

Though the sample size is small, Sanne said physicians have seen a higher rate of breakthrough infections among those previously vaccinated in South Africa. But he added that initial data indicates the vaccines are still proving effective, with the majority of hospitalizations being among those who hadn’t gotten immunized.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/26/faq-new-variant-omicron/

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[John Drake]

What's happened to all the pronouncements from Dr. Yong? I thought he was supposed to be the "Top Doc" around here. He seems to have vanished.

[jacko45k]

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

That's a paltry 0.13% that tested positive on arrival since 1 November.

 

That's a safe as it gets

 

Great work by 99.87% of passengers, the airlines and airport staff and the teams on duty at BKK.

 

Well done.

Not good enough.....with pre flight test, double vaccination it should be better. Thank heavens for PCR test on arrival, else we would have 149 out there spreading their foreign disease!

[spidermike007]

Top Doc says sacrifice millions of jobs, ruin lives, and keep a timid and cowardly approach to Covid. 

 

Easy for him to say. Tourism will never, ever recover if and when they are taking advice from fools like this. 

[BadSpottedDog]

3 hours ago, DLock said:

I agree that keeping the PCR tests is better than ATK tests on arrival - they are too unreliable.

 

Last thing we want is another ban of tourist arrivals, 2 week quarantines or major lockdowns.

 

...but I fear they are inevitable if Omicron turns out to be equal or worse than Delta.

What I've been reading, from this source, doctors, and others, say it's WAY milder. 3 days and done. 
'Symptoms Were So Different And So Mild'

[arithai12]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

but he felt that Thailand should keep the RT-PCR test

Oh well, you can't argue against this well formulated scientific argument.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

He also proposed that people coming from countries where Omicron has been identified should be quarantined for two weeks and have two RT-PCR tests in the first and second weeks

Here we go again... 

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, lanng khao said:

To be honest I miss that little knock on the door and finding a tray of food on the other side.

To be honest I don't want to ever hear it.

[Harveyboy]

4 hours ago, Pravda said:

Everyone that comes to Thailand should go through one month quarantine ????

nah !! 6 months take no chances  

[tandor]

...you should keep testing regularly regardless of this new variant.

[TKDfella]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus

 

Omicron has sparked alarm among epidemiologists worried the new variant’s mutations could make it more transmissible. Scientists are racing to learn more as new cases are confirmed.

 

South Africa on Thursday confirmed that scientists there had detected a variant with a high number of mutations that could make it more transmissible and adept at evading the body’s immune defenses. On Friday, the World Health Organization labeled it a “variant of concern” and gave it a Greek letter designation: omicron.

...

There is too little research to draw conclusions, with experts urging caution but not panic. Studies are underway to examine how vaccines hold up against the new variant, with some experts expressing initial optimism that they will offer protection.

...

Though the sample size is small, Sanne said physicians have seen a higher rate of breakthrough infections among those previously vaccinated in South Africa. But he added that initial data indicates the vaccines are still proving effective, with the majority of hospitalizations being among those who hadn’t gotten immunized.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/26/faq-new-variant-omicron/

 

Just for those interested;

[ukrules]

57 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Top Doc says sacrifice millions of jobs, ruin lives, and keep a timid and cowardly approach to Covid. 

 

Easy for him to say. Tourism will never, ever recover if and when they are taking advice from fools like this. 

Never mind, they had a good run ????

[ukrules]

20 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

Just for those interested

Taking a casual glance there at first I thought I was looking at a map of Africa and the locations of this new variant instead of a model of the virus...

 

The general shape is really quite similar.

 

[IAMHERE]

149 positives out of 116,000 tests ; I wonder what the rate of flase positives is. Could be not all of those 149 really had Covid-19 and what percentage of them were asymptomatic ?

[Cake Monster]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus

 

Omicron has sparked alarm among epidemiologists worried the new variant’s mutations could make it more transmissible. Scientists are racing to learn more as new cases are confirmed.

 

South Africa on Thursday confirmed that scientists there had detected a variant with a high number of mutations that could make it more transmissible and adept at evading the body’s immune defenses. On Friday, the World Health Organization labeled it a “variant of concern” and gave it a Greek letter designation: omicron.

...

There is too little research to draw conclusions, with experts urging caution but not panic. Studies are underway to examine how vaccines hold up against the new variant, with some experts expressing initial optimism that they will offer protection.

...

Though the sample size is small, Sanne said physicians have seen a higher rate of breakthrough infections among those previously vaccinated in South Africa. But he added that initial data indicates the vaccines are still proving effective, with the majority of hospitalizations being among those who hadn’t gotten immunized.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/26/faq-new-variant-omicron/

 

Also what is worrying Governments is the demi graph group that this Virus variant seems to attack most.

It attacks predominantly Males in the age group of 20 - 40 or so. ( from the details known thus far )

Why would Governments worry about this age group. ?

These are the predominant group that pay Taxes

 

[EricTh]

If you are going to quarantine for 14 days, not many real tourist would come and it'd back to the old Covid days.

Edited November 29, 2021 by EricTh

[DavisH]

49 minutes ago, saintbangkok said:

All I can say is LOL. Follow the science. As yet a new variant they claim, which will NOT be fully mapped and idenified as yet, so how can they possibly know what test will work for it. Is anyone still falling for all this pantomime? 

The current PCR test can detect it due to the S-gene drop out.