Chonburi announces total of 8 locally spread Omicron Covid -19 confirmed cases, 20 imported
The Chonburi Public Health Office today (December 30th) has announced in total 8 locally spread cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant infection with 20 imported cases.
Chonburi –
- All twenty of the imported cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant infection were found from the test and go and sandbox project. Nineteen of them were confirmed since the first day of their arrival/first test and are being treated and quarantined in hotels in Banglamung. One of them is in a hotel in Si Racha and was confirmed on their second test and their contacts are being traced.
- Eight local cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant infection were found from random tests on confirmed Covid-19 cases in Banglamung, showing that the variant, which is highly transmissible but appears to be milder than the Delta variant in terms of symptoms, according to preliminary, non-peer-reviewed studies from countries like South Africa and the UK, is spreading in the region. TPN media notes that these were random tests, which means that the actual number of Omicron cases is likely understated as not every recent case has been examined on an individual basis for type.
- Thai officials from the Department of Public Health have stated they continue to monitor the situation and while they have addressed statements from some countries about the variant potentially being milder, they also have expressed concerns for its high transmissibility and Thailand's relatively low double vaccination rate, roughly 64% of the total population. As a result, the current goal is to "slow" the transmission of the variant as much as possible. However, New Year's events will be allowed to continue as of press time and as of now no restrictions or further mitigation measures have been announced in Chonburi.