By Namo Vananupong

    

BANGKOK (NNT) - Close to 20 people have been asked to come in and get tested for COVID-19 in response to the detection of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in an American traveler who entered Thailand from Spain. In light of rumors about one of the test results being positive, public health authorities have confirmed that all results have so far been negative.

 

Dr. Chakrarat Pittayawonganon, director of the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Disease Control, explained that the profiling of the Omicron variant patient has yielded 19 individuals who had contact with the patient, albeit all of them being deemed at low risk of having contracted the coronavirus. 2 instances of contact were in Suvarnabhumi Airport while 17 occurred at the SHA+ hotel where the patient was staying to wait for the on-arrival RT-PCR test result.

 

Of the 17 persons at the hotel, 16 had negative test results but 1 was away from the hotel on the test day. The person, a staffer at the hotel restaurant, had left for Ubon Ratchathani and was contacted by health officials to come in for testing.

 

The result of the first RT-PCR test on this individual was inconclusive, prompting another sample collection which then produce a negative result upon testing. Nonetheless, individuals who have had close contact with the restaurant worker have now been placed in isolation as a precaution.

 

Meanwhile, the Omicron variant patient still has not displayed any symptoms. He remains under quarantine in a healthcare facility and must complete 14 days of isolation, counting from his November 30 date of arrival in Thailand. After the 14 days, health officials will continue to contact the man on a daily basis to inquire about his condition.

 

The Omicron variant has now been detected in 54 countries globally and domestic transmissions have been confirmed in 19 countries. No critical patients or deaths have been reported among the Omicron variant patients.

 

Dr. Chakrarat said there are positive signs the Omicron variant does not result in severe symptoms, which means there is now a heightened possibility of the variant developing into an endemic disease.

 

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-- © Copyright NNT 2021-12-08

 

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11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Dr. Chakrarat said there are positive signs the Omicron variant does not result in severe symptoms, which means there is now a heightened possibility of the variant developing into an endemic disease.

Hopefully ! i miss normality nearly as much as the wife. 

Lets think about this a little.

 

Do they really think someone with a mild Omicron infection for a couple of days will report to the nearest covid prison for '14 day quarantine' when they're barely ill at all?

 

They're not going to find it unless they go out and force people to take tests because from what I've heard people don't like to be quarantined.

 

They will need to look long and hard to find any cases until the 'great flood' arrives, at which point they might as well give up testing anyone who's not really ill.

Thailand is acting like they can keep the Omigron out of the country. Nothing they can do about it and personally very tired of all this difficulties to enter to thailand

4 minutes ago, FarangPumpui said:

Thailand is acting like they can keep the Omigron out of the country. Nothing they can do about it and personally very tired of all this difficulties to enter to thailand

I am sure we are all very tired of the restrictions this pandemic has put upon us. 

"...at which point they might as well give up testing anyone who's not really ill."

 

Seems that is what they've been doing for the whole of this year anyway.

No sign... yet.

Give it a while it will come as sure as eggs are eggs.

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

"...at which point they might as well give up testing anyone who's not really ill."

 

Seems that is what they've been doing for the whole of this year anyway.

And rightly so. 

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

Lets think about this a little.

 

Do they really think someone with a mild Omicron infection for a couple of days will report to the nearest covid prison for '14 day quarantine' when they're barely ill at all?

 

They're not going to find it unless they go out and force people to take tests because from what I've heard people don't like to be quarantined.

 

They will need to look long and hard to find any cases until the 'great flood' arrives, at which point they might as well give up testing anyone who's not really ill.

Don't ask, don't tell. As the US military policy was re gays.

8 minutes ago, Daithi85 said:

And rightly so. 

If you don't test you will never know the extent of the virus, never know which variants are at large throughout the country and put at risk many people who will be unaware that there may be clusters of infected people in their area.

Why have they ignored the X hundred people on the flight to Thailand with this guy? 

Maybe they think that you cannot get infected on a flight.

 

Not to worry! ????

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-07/gsk-antibody-treatment-works-on-omicron-mutations-study-shows

Why don't they do the testing, obtain conclusive results and then report back to the media instead of a blow by blow account regarding the bloody waiter who served food to the American who was unlucky enough to contract Omicron?

 

Thais really are reactive about such things instead of being proactive.

 

Worldwide, it has already been stated more time is needed to study the effects. Why can't they just keep their mouths shut for two weeks and await the outcome being conducted by those who know more?

5 hours ago, webfact said:

No critical patients or deaths have been reported among the Omicron variant patients.

the best news ever

3 hours ago, FarangPumpui said:

Thailand is acting like they can keep the Omigron out of the country. Nothing they can do about it and personally very tired of all this difficulties to enter to thailand

Agree. Within a couple of weeks it will be every where in Thailand. But that might be a good thing if symptoms are as mild as being reported. If not, then things will turn shi$&y very very quickly.

1 hour ago, David T Pike said:

Not to worry! ????

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-07/gsk-antibody-treatment-works-on-omicron-mutations-study-shows

Interesting article. Thanks.

Could they possibly come up with a more difficult name to pronounce than Sotrovimab???

In my small country we get many omicron cases now..population 5,5 million.What really surprise me is that we have daily more covidcases then thailand who have a population of about 70 million.

So i dont belive their low numbers at all.

Head, let me introduce you to sand.

 

 

1 hour ago, edwinchester said:

If you don't test you will never know the extent of the virus, never know which variants are at large throughout the country and put at risk many people who will be unaware that there may be clusters of infected people in their area.

I'm pretty sure if things were bad hospitals would be filling up, that ain't happening, numbers are dropping by the day. Put down the phone, step away from the computer and go out and enjoy yourself, things are a million times better here than any where in the western world that's for sure.  ????

4 hours ago, FarangPumpui said:

Thailand is acting like they can keep the Omigron out of the country. Nothing they can do about it and personally very tired of all this difficulties to enter to thailand

I think we have seen this behavioral pattern before.

5 hours ago, FarangPumpui said:

Thailand is acting like they can keep the Omigron out of the country. Nothing they can do about it and personally very tired of all this difficulties to enter to thailand

Strangely enough, you never see a character in a Zombie movie complain about having to dodge Zombies all day. 

1 hour ago, wombat said:

the best news ever

Gee, everyone is social distancing and wearing masks, and you wonder why no one is catching a cold. 

It doesn’t matter if there is or is not community transmission this week. The point is that it will eventually come, just as it did with alpha, delta and beta. The important thing is to make preparations for when it does arrive, if it hasn’t done so already.

1 hour ago, stigar said:

In my small country we get many omicron cases now..population 5,5 million.What really surprise me is that we have daily more covidcases then thailand who have a population of about 70 million.

So i dont belive their low numbers at all.

They are in denial 

Is history repeating it self is Thailand just behind other countries  waiting to be hit by the Omicron variant if so let's pray it will be mild 

4 hours ago, Daithi85 said:

I'm pretty sure if things were bad hospitals would be filling up, that ain't happening, numbers are dropping by the day. Put down the phone, step away from the computer and go out and enjoy yourself, things are a million times better here than any where in the western world that's for sure.  ????

I agree that things appear to be getting better but that is no reason to let your guard down. There is nothing to be gained from low testing and much to learn of the nature of the virus from a high testing rate.

Just as a side note the kids in our area went back to school just over a week ago and one of them has already closed. The rapid antigen tests showed that alot of the kids were infected.

Is this a one off announcement or with Thai Visa be running this tripe a few times weekly until we get the headline ...IT'S EVERYWHERE

12 hours ago, ukrules said:

Lets think about this a little.

 

Do they really think someone with a mild Omicron infection for a couple of days will report to the nearest covid prison for '14 day quarantine' when they're barely ill at all?

 

They're not going to find it unless they go out and force people to take tests because from what I've heard people don't like to be quarantined.

 

They will need to look long and hard to find any cases until the 'great flood' arrives, at which point they might as well give up testing anyone who's not really ill.

So far I am impressed by the government response, they obviously are studying the SA medical Database and aren’t panicking, for once they are showing more common sense than Australia and New Zealand and other countries.

16 hours ago, Daithi85 said:

And rightly so. 

Utterly bizzare remark !!

Without comprehensive testing it is impossible to collect accurate data.

Please explain the advantages of not having sufficient information to work with.

Omm.