No Omicron Cases In Thailand

[webfact]

 

By Suwit Rattiwan

   

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Public Health Ministry urged members of the public to stay calm amidst fears of the Omicron variant having been found in many countries, saying that travelers recently arriving from Africa have not been cleared of quarantine.

 

Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, said all 1,007 visitors from southern Africa who recently arrived in Thailand have tested negative for Covid-19 and are now kept in isolation under tourism sandbox programs.

 

According to the Department of Medical Sciences, Thailand has not detected the Omicron variant. All private hospitals are requested to submit specimens from all Covid patients to be genetically sequenced to identify each individual’s strain and its prevalence.

 

The emergence of the Omicron variant, first identified in Africa, triggered global alarm as the new mutation is potentially more transmissible.

 

The Thai government has imposed a total ban on arrivals from eight African countries including South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi effective since Saturday. Meanwhile, those who already have permission to enter Thailand must arrive before December 15th and will be subject to state quarantine for 14 days and three Covid tests.

 

Discover Cigna’s range of health insurance solutions created for expats and local nationals living in Thailand - click to view

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-11-29

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

 

 

[Chris.B]

Yet.......

Edited November 30, 2021 by metisdead
Oversize font reset to normal.

[Stocky]

No Omicron Cases DETECTED In Thailand SO FAR.

[Petey11]

When you do very little testing of population how do you know?

[HashBrownHarry]

If they're in the Sandbox program and have the new variant then it's too late.

 

In reality the Sanbox program makes zero sense, just an incentive for more tourists.

[GrandPapillon]

rest assure that new variant is ALREADY in Thailand,

 

detection is a random game at an early stage, and it's safe to say it's already all over Europe

 

closing borders? too late for that, it's not like we can do this in "real time" ????

[Thailand]

Variant Omigod coming to a province near you anytime soon!

[SheikYabodyline]

11 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

rest assure that new variant is ALREADY in Thailand,

 

detection is a random game at an early stage, and it's safe to say it's already all over Europe

 

closing borders? too late for that, it's not like we can do this in "real time" ????

It's in the nature of governments, they are always reactive, often disproportionately so. For once the WHO is a voice of sanity, calling in the present situation for borders to remain open until more is known and understood about this new variation. You might expect at least a few not to act like hysterical, headless chickens. Dream on.

[Pond Life]

Omigod, Moronic Omicron.

Fear is your only God ! 

[4MyEgo]

Omicron is the Greek number for 15, as far as I can recall, they only had 12 variants before Omicron, now why on earth did they skip Nu (13), and of course Mu (14), that said, I wonder what will happen when they get to Xi, or Omega for that matter, Omega being the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

 

I suppose they could start using Greek slang, like STA or NAH.

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by metisdead
Trolling image removed.

[GrandPapillon]

strange indeed, for the naming conventions, unless some past variants were serious and named, but not serious enough to be disclosed publicly

[Lingba]

Not yet

[dinsdale]

1 hour ago, SheikYabodyline said:

It's in the nature of governments, they are always reactive, often disproportionately so. For once the WHO is a voice of sanity, calling in the present situation for borders to remain open until more is known and understood about this new variation. You might expect at least a few not to act like hysterical, headless chickens. Dream on.

Who remembers the WHO saying borders should remain open in Feburary last year? We all know how that went.

[JustAnotherHun]

By calling the new variant "omicron", they changed the way of naming the mutants.

So far they counted along the Greek alphabet, now they switched one letter.

Correct would be...ahhh:

Xi

????

Edited November 29, 2021 by JustAnotherHun

[snoop1130]

Thai doctors confirm no ‘Omicron’ strain detected yet but say it is highly transmissible

 

Photo by Handout / US Food and Drug Administration / AFP

 

There has been no detection of the new COVID-19 Omicron mutation in Thailand yet, but experts say it spreads faster and more easily than the Beta and Delta strains, while symptoms can be quite mild, such as anosmia, and most antigen tests are able to detect infections, according to experts.

 

The new variant was first detected in South Africa late last week from a specimen collected on November 9th. The WHO then formally classified it as a new strain which is “of concern”, due to this variant’s large number of mutations. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, when compared to other strains, such as Delta or Beta.

 

Chief of the Department of Medical Sciences Dr. Supakit Sirilak explained in a phone interview with Thai PBS that “data from labs suggests that the new strain has an increased risk of causing infections and is able to evade the immune system. Therefore, looking at infected areas and primary data, it was found that the CT (Cycle Threshold) was quite low. This means that the infection is not hard to detect.”

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-doctors-confirm-new-covid-19-omicron-strain-is-highly-transmissible/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-11-29

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[GroveHillWanderer]

4 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Omicron is the Greek number for 15, as far as I can recall, they only had 12 variants before Omicron, now why on earth did they skip Nu (13), and of course Mu (14), that said, I wonder what will happen when they get to Xi, or Omega for that matter, Omega being the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

According to the WHO they skipped Nu because it was too easy to confuse with "new" and Xi because it is a common surname and the guidelines are to avoid using the names of people or countries.

 

Mu (which comes before Nu, not after) was not skipped, it was already assigned to another variant detected in Colombia.

[4MyEgo]

5 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

According to the WHO they skipped Nu because it was too easy to confuse with "new" and Xi because it is a common surname and the guidelines are to avoid using the names of people or countries.

 

Mu (which comes before Nu, not after) was not skipped, it was already assigned to another variant detected in Colombia.

Makes sense to me, oh and yes typo on my part Mu and Nu thx.

[Bkk Brian]

Omicron poses very high global risk, world must prepare -WHO

GENEVA, Nov 29 (Reuters)

 

In anticipation of increased case numbers as the variant, first reported last week, spreads, the U.N. agency urged its 194 member states to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and ensure plans were in place to maintain health services.

“Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the WHO said.

 

“The overall global risk related to the new variant …is assessed as very high.”

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/omicron-poses-very-high-global-risk-world-must-prepare-who/

 

[dsj]

15 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Omicron is the Greek number for 15, as far as I can recall, they only had 12 variants before Omicron, now why on earth did they skip Nu (13), and of course Mu (14), that said, I wonder what will happen when they get to Xi, or Omega for that matter, Omega being the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

 

I suppose they could start using Greek slang, like STA or NAH.

 

 

I found this on a Canadian News website. https://globalnews.ca/news/8407763/covid-19-omicron-name-greek-alphabet-explainer/
Many people had expected the agency to label the latest variant nu, which comes after mu, a variant designated on Aug. 30.

Instead, the WHO skipped over nu as well as xi, the next Greek letter in line — a move that many users on social media pointed out, while some questioned whether it was to avoid offending Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
 

In a statement provided to the AP, the WHO said it skipped nu for clarity and xi to avoid causing offense generally.

“`Nu’ is too easily confounded with `new,’ and `Xi’ was not used because it is a common last name,” the WHO said, adding that the agency’s “best practices for naming disease suggest avoiding `causing offence to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups.”’

Those best practices were outlined in a May 2015 document issued by the agency. The organization said at the time that it wanted to “minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people” when naming infectious diseases.

This is the first time the organization has skipped letters since it began using the Greek alphabet for coronavirus variants; it has previously used the alphabet to label 12 others. Alpha, beta, gamma and delta are all currently “variants of concern” like omicron. Lambda and mu are given the less serious “variant of interest” designation. Six other letters were assigned to former variants of interest.

[4MyEgo]

9 hours ago, dsj said:

In a statement provided to the AP, the WHO said it skipped nu for clarity and xi to avoid causing offense generally.

"To avoid causing offence generally", hmmm, well, millions dead, would have been nice if Xi owned up how his country slipping Covid 19 out as opposed to trying to cover it up, that said I would give the next variant the name STA for him, although it's not in the Greek alphabet.

 

Now to under stand that word you would have to raise your hands all the way up together, then bring them down to your privates quickly, its pretty much equal to the Italian salute, left hand to opposite elbow, bending right arm upwards, or hand under chin then flicking it outwards, however STA is much more offensive when you thrust your lower section forward as your hands reach their end destination, but then again, if I didn't want "to cause offence generally", I would put one hand out with the palm facing him at face level and then hitting the back of that hand with the other saying NAH, not wanting to make the name to long and confusing with NAH RE MALAHKA, or NATO (here it is)

 

Yes Greeks do it better ????

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by metisdead
Trolling image removed.

[vandeventer]

On 11/29/2021 at 1:59 PM, Chris.B said:

Yet.......

Poor South Africa, who said honesty  pays?

[mtls2005]

As long as they do not do any sequencing on recent tests they should be able to maintain this "nothing to see here" posture.
 

 

 

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

The Public Health Ministry urged members of the public to stay calm amidst fears of the Omicron variant having been found in many countries, saying that travelers recently arriving from Africa have not been cleared of quarantine.

Those same measures didn't stop the Delta variant from coming in... only a matter of time.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

There has been no detection of the new COVID-19 Omicron mutation in Thailand yet, but experts say it spreads faster and more easily than the Beta and Delta strains, while symptoms can be quite mild, such as anosmia, and most antigen tests are able to detect infections, according to experts.

Are these Thai experts who are just saying what they've heard, or real experts who've studied the variant?

[patman30]

????????????

[Almer]

17 hours ago, Petey11 said:

When you do very little testing of population how do you know?

Not look not find

[Jeffr2]

https://tna.mcot.net/english-news-810735

Delta Plus (AY.4.2) Not Found in Thailand Yet

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-finds-first-local-delta-plus-covid-19-case

 

Thailand finds first local Delta Plus Covid-19 case

[scubascuba3]

No doubt it will come in via the leaky borders

[Jeffr2]

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/29/world/covid-omicron-variant-countries-list-cmd-intl/index.html

 

Australia: 2 cases

Austria: 1 case

Belgium: 1 case

Botswana: 19 cases

Canada: 3 cases

Czech Republic: 1 case

Denmark: 2 cases

Germany: 3 cases

Hong Kong: 3 cases

Israel: 1 case

Italy: 1 case

Netherlands: 13 cases

Portugal: 13 cases

South Africa: 77 cases

Spain: 1 case

United Kingdom: 9 cases

[IamNoone88]

...... or detected in arrivals from UK, Italy, Holland, France? ...... Perhaps I am unaware that the virus has exclusive territories such as solely African country arrivals. This mf is going to hit like a sledge hammer.