BANGKOK – Thailand today reported its first potential case of the Omicron variant – a male American traveling from Spain, a senior health official said today.
Medical Science Department Director-General Dr Supakit Sirilak said the 35-year-old man had tested positive on December 1 and underwent treatment at hospital.
He said the man had tested 99.2% positive for the Omicron variant, but he will be subjected to another test.
“The man has exercised safety precautions, therefore there is no close contact with the case. However, there are 19 people including hotel and airport staff who have been in contact with the man. The health authorities are conducting further tests on these people,” he said at a press conference here today.
Meanwhile, Dr Supakit denied the report that there is an African patient who tested positive for Omicron.
“The patient tested for the Delta variant,” he said.
At the start of December, Thailand joined the growing number of countries that have banned travellers from eight African countries following the discovery of the Omicron variant.
Over the last 24 hours, Thailand reported 4,000 new Covid-19 cases and 22 new deaths, taking the tally to more than 2.1 million cases and 20,966 deaths since the pandemic started last year. – Bernama, December 6, 2021
