Thailand reports 4,306 new COVID-19 cases, 37 deaths, 6,407 recoveries. Dr. Supakit asserted that if Omicron variants make their way into the country, his department will quickly discover them as the variant identification process at 15 medical science centers nationwide is now being adjusted to focus on the Omicron variant. ASEAN NOW / NNT



File photo: REUTERS

 

Thailand on Tuesday (November 30) reported 4,306 new COVID-19 cases, 6,407 recoveries and 37 additional deaths over the past 24 hours. 

 

▶︎ Infections outside prisons: 4,183. Prisons: 123

▶︎ Recoveries: 6,407

▶︎ Total infections since April 1: 2,087,009

▶︎ Total recoveries since since April 1: 1,992,002

 

Tuesday's cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 2,115,872 with 20,771 deaths.

 

The news comes as public health authorities have now confirmed that the RT-PCR method is capable of detecting the new variant and the method is still in use globally.

 

Department of Medical sciences Director-General Supakit Sirilak said his department has been constantly checking the genomes of the coronavirus and feeding reports into the GISAID global database that provides access to genomic data of influenza viruses. With the appearance of the Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, which is considered a variant of concern by the World Health Organization, the department has yet to discover the variant among 8 recently collected samples or from the 75 other samples collected since Thailand's reopening to international visitors on November 1. All of the said samples were of the Delta variant and subvariants.

 

Dr. Supakit asserted that if Omicron variants make their way into the country, his department will quickly discover them as the variant identification process at 15 medical science centers nationwide is now being adjusted to focus on the Omicron variant. 

*NNT contributed to this report