'Test & Go' country list to change Omicron cases may prompt fresh curbs. Gen Supoj said the CCSA's operation centre will identify "high-risk" countries before holding a meeting on Friday to decide on the extent to which the "Test & Go" scheme may need to be revised. If the risk of further infections is considered high, the scheme may be suspended completely. Bangkok Post

'Test & Go' country list to change

International passengers are seen undergoing country entry procedures upon arrival at Suvarnabhum airport on Monday amid concerns that the 'Test & Go' programme for those entering the kingdom could be scrapped because of the rising number of Omicron variant cases. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

The government is expected to revise its list of "Test & Go" countries following the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 as details on Monday emerged of the country's earliest recorded local case of the strain.

Gen Supoj Malaniyom, chief of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration's (CCSA) operations base, said the list of of low-risk countries eligible for the tourism opening scheme will be reviewed and Covid-19 screening measures will be intensified.

Gen Supoj said the CCSA's operation centre will identify "high-risk" countries before holding a meeting on Friday to decide on the extent to which the "Test & Go" scheme may need to be revised. If the risk of further infections is considered high, the scheme may be suspended completely.

"We're monitoring the spread of Omicron in other countries, not just the UK. The situation is alarming and we must take necessary precautions," he said.

The entry programme, which started in November, applies to fully vaccinated visitors from specific countries in an attempt to revive the tourism and service industry.

"We have to be more stringent [with the "Test & Go" scheme] and Covid-19 screening of travellers," said Gen Supoj.

His remarks came after the Public Health Ministry said it would back suspending the programme and requiring even fully vaccinated arrivals to spend time in sandbox and state quarantine schemes.

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the ministry forwarded the proposal to the CCSA for consideration after more Omicron cases were detected.

Dr Chakkarat Pitayawong-anant, director for epidemiology at the Department of Disease Control, on Monday confirmed the local transmission of the Omicron variant.

A 49-year-old-Thai woman contracted the virus from her husband, a Colombian pilot who arrived from Nigeria and entered the country via the sandbox programme on Nov 26.

The man, who had received two shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine prior to entry, tested negative for Covid-19 upon arrival and received a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine on Dec 1.

However, he spent the 4th to the 6th of December suffering from a fever, tiredness and a sore throat. His antigen test was negative.

On Dec 7 he was taken to hospital where the RT-PCR test came back positive.

On Dec 10 both he and his wife were confirmed to have contracted the variant. His wife's Omicron infection was later confirmed as the country's earliest recorded case.

Dr Chakkarat also backed the temporary reimposition of travel curbs.

"To slow the spread of Omicron we need to do three things -- slow the arrival rate, especially under "Test & Go", speed up vaccinations and wear masks," he said.

Dr Supakij Sirilak, director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, said on Monday that as of Dec 19, there were 63 confirmed Omicron cases but noted that the detection rate had increased to 3%, from less than 1% the week before.

He also noted that of arrivals who tested positive for Covid-19, about 25% were found to be infected with the Omicron variant.

Details of the infections came as Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday announced that the country reached its goal of administering 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. 

🔴 #COVID19 update on Tuesday: ⬇️ 2,476 new cases ⬆️ 32 deaths. Richard Barrow



Bangkok Post highlights 21/12

 

This new infographic released yesterday by the Ministry of Public Health is asking people returning from abroad to self-isolate at home for 14 days if they have any Covid-19 symptoms. The message was only in Thai and so it is not clear where foreign tourists stand with this. #Thailand. Richard Barrow





Omicron nightmare hits the tourism sector. Thailand’s foreign tourism sector faces nightmare with CCSA's plan to cancel the ‘Test and Go’ entry scheme accounting for 71% of visitors. The decision still has to be made by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) but it will immediately create chaos, confusion and a tidal wave of cancellations. Thai Examiner

Omicron nightmare for already troubled tourism sector: plan to suspend 'Test and Go' entry route

Carla Boonkong & Pranee O' Connor

Shock development will upend the recovery of the foreign tourism sector which only this week saw some life being breathed into foreign tourist hotspots such as Pattaya. The decision still has to be made by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) but it will immediately create chaos, confusion and a tidal wave of cancellations. After that, the wider and negative impact on the Thai economy for 2022 will begin.

Thailand's foreign tourism industry is facing its worst nightmare with a proposal to be placed before the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to cancel the 'Test and Go' entry scheme which has driven 71% of arrivals since the country's broader reopening to 63 foreign countries went ahead on November 1st. The decision, if it goes ahead, will lead to a tidal wave of cancellations and is already generating chaos and confusion among tens of thousands of potential holidaymakers across the world in the process of making end of year arrangements to visit Thailand. The news came out of the blue on Monday morning with a statement by Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul and a briefing by the Department of Medical Sciences chief at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Supakit Sirilak who explained that a sudden rise in incoming Omicron cases in the last week had brought about the decision to act.

Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul, on Monday, as he announced that public health officials would be recommending to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) that the 'Test and Go' entry regime be suspended because of a surge in Omicron cases detected among incoming passengers to Thailand in the last week.

Thailand's foreign tourism is facing disaster after reports emerged on Monday morning that the 'Test and Go' system operated with Thailand Pass which has allowed more convenient access to the kingdom may be suspended.

It comes as just over the weekend the industry reported some signs of normality and recovery albeit still at a dramatically reduced level since 2019.

Monday morning bombshell from the Minister of Public Health pulls the rug from under the foreign tourism industry struggling to recover

Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul then dropped a bombshell on Monday morning when he announced that because of a large increase in the number of arrivals into the kingdom being found with the Omicron virus in recent days, public health officials were now submitting a proposal to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCCA) to pause the quick entry system.

The minister said that quick action is now required to buy time and to slow down the rise of Omicron in Thailand which could threaten the broader economy.

Wife of an airline pilot who flies to Nigeria becomes the first woman in Thailand infected by Omicron

On Monday, Dr Chakrarat Pittayawong of the Department of Disease Control revealed that the first woman had detected Omicron in Thailand.

She was the wife of an airline pilot who flew flights between Thailand and Nigeria.

'Right now, we have to urgently take measures to cut power from the beginning of the wind. All 63 people have come from abroad. There is only one husband who is a pilot. His wife stays at home. These are Thai people who live together. Husband has come from abroad. Linked with the wife. It is unlikely to spread. But if you let go, one day it will definitely go out to the market. We will have to go back and take necessary measures,' Minister Anutin said on Monday.

Worst fear of the tourism industry comes true

If it goes ahead, it will confirm the worst fears of tourism industry leaders who only last week warned that a sudden disruption to the latest tourism revival and efforts to breathe life into the decimated foreign tourism industry could spell disaster.

Omicron is a spectre in the background which threatens to uproot the current reopening with caution being the watchword of tourism operators

This news on Monday comes after mixed signals emerged in recent weeks again of a new tack by tourism agencies and the ministry towards less volume but higher-income travellers which had already sparked alarm among regular visitors to the kingdom who constitute a significant proportion of visitors in the wider industry.

Test and Go represented 71% of arrivals from 63 countries that have seen huge surges of Omicron

Figures since the opening of Thailand to 63 countries under the no quarantine 'Test and Go' system from early November showed that the scheme accounted for 71% of arrivals.

71% of arrivals are fully vaccinated passengers from the 63 countries eligible for 'Test and Go', most require manual verification of certificates

At the same time, public health officials only last week recommended extending the quarantine period for vaccinated foreign tourists under the more complicated Sandbox regime from five to seven days.

The reason given was the rapid spread of Omicron in countries around the world, an escalating situation that is now changing with every 24 hour news cycle as reported cases worldwide are doubling every 48 hours.

Now all arrivals must negotiate the unpopular and highly complicated Sandbox entry process again

If the current proposal is agreed by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) as proposed this week, it will mean that all arrivals must either enter Thailand through the unpopular and complicated sandbox scheme or submit to expensive alternative quarantine arrangements.

The move spells a death knell for the current efforts of the foreign tourism industry to recover at this time and will lead to chaos across the world among travellers busy booking flights to Thailand and those who had bookings made for January in what is the peak season for tourism in the kingdom.

Tourist who tested negative before flight and after arrival later tested positive for the Omicron virus

As well as Minister Anutin, Dr Supakit Sirilak, the Director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences at the ministry addressed reporters on Monday.

He cited the case of a foreign tourist arrival who had tested negative for COVID-19 before flying to Thailand and after arrival but later tested positive for the new variant on holiday in Thailand.

He said the case was being studied by officials and scientists as the incoming passenger was infectious for 6 to 7 days.

The public health official also revealed that all Omicron cases detected in Thailand, so far, were from incoming travellers. He stressed that there was not yet an index case or source of local infection in Thailand of the Omicron strain.

The Omicron variant was not, as far as officials are aware, transmitting locally yet in Thailand.

Rising cases of Omicron being detected in line with an international pattern explained official at the Ministry of Public Health at Monday morning's briefing

But this could change quickly.

World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance suggests that this may now be inevitable.

'If Test and Go is not reviewed, then infected but undetected arrivals can right away travel farther inside the country and cause clusters of infections,' Dr Supakit explained. 'The infection rate will be expanding,' he warned.

There were 80 cases of the variant found from April this year according to the health official this morning, dating back to well before the new Omicron variant was highlighted by South Africa in November to the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of concern.

He said that from December 11th cases had begun to rise with 52 cases reported alone from December 11th to December 19th and more reports coming on Monday morning. It is suggested that, so far, 20 more cases have been reported.

Dr Supakit said that Omicron accounted for one in four of arrivals who tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival as of now.

'Most Omicron cases detected were arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport and they formed a quarter of the Covid-19 cases found there. The case numbers increased quite quickly over the past week, which corresponded with the global situation,' Dr Supakit explained.

He pointed to the worldwide surge of the Omicron variant and said that this would be growing apace. 

Omicron now threatens to scupper the kingdom's economic growth prospects heading into 2022

Last week, the World Bank warned that if Omicron emerged as a significant threat to Thailand's reopening process and foreign tourism recovery efforts, this could impact the wider economy in 2022.

The kingdom's projected growth rate of 3.9% for next year which depends on 7 million foreign tourists would be imperilled and it could be facing an economic contraction of the order of 0.3%

The immediate fallout from this decision will, in the short term, be confusion and chaos as tens of thousands of foreign travellers already confirmed will be left in limbo with the threatened cancellation of 'Test and Go' very likely to see a huge wave of booking cancellations also with already struggling foreign tourism concerns including hotels and airlines throughout Thailand.



Todays Top 10 provinces. The Thaiger / CCSA



The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced 128 new and confirmedcases of Covid-19 today with two new deaths, December 20th. Pattaya News

Chonburi announces 128 new and confirmed cases of Covid-19 and two new deaths

Monday, 20 December 2021, 16:19

Highlights:

• 128 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Chonburi today

• 166 people recovered and were released from medical care

• Two new deaths

The Chonburi Department of Public Health announced 128 new and confirmedcases of Covid-19 today with two new deaths, December 20th.

This makes a total of 110,816 cases of Covid-19 in the current round of infections, with 1,823 people still under medical care/supervision, and with a total of 785 recorded deaths in Chonburi since the start of this recent round of infections in early April.

Additionally, 166 people were also released and recovered yesterday in Chonburi. 108,208 people in total have now been released from medical care and recovered in Chonburi since this current wave of Covid-19 began.

One person was listed as being in serious condition in Chonburi currently, either on a ventilator or pneumonia, and was not vaccinated.

Two new deaths today are at the average age of 65. They both had personal health problems. Both of them were not vaccinated.

In total, 1,892,683 people in Pattaya and Chonburi have received their first dose of a Covid -19 vaccine which is 81.26 percent of the total Chonburi population. Of those, 296,327 have received their first dose and are what the Thai government calls 608 groups (elders, have chronic health problems, and pregnant) which is 80.10 percent of those in these risk groups in Chonburi.

The district-level new cases were as follows today:

Mueang Chonburi 24, Si Racha 15, Banglamung (Pattaya) 52, Panat Nikhom 3, Sattahip 3, Phan Thong 17, Ko Chan 3, Nong Yai 1, and 10 people transferred from other provinces for medical care.

The details on the cases are as follows:

1. Work and stayed in Rayong, transferred from other provinces for medical care, 8 cases
2. Cluster Asahi Tec Aluminium company in Mueang Chonburi, 8 cases
3. Cluster, Sony Technology company in Mueang Chonburi, 3 cases
4. Cluster, Ge Mao Rubber International company in Phan Thong, 7 cases
5. Cluster, work camp in Banglamung, 3 cases
6. Cluster, Thai Summit PKK company in Si Racha, 3 cases
7. Risky occupations meeting many people, 3 cases
8. 3 medical personnel
9. Close contacts from previously confirmed cases in families – 21 cases, in workplaces – 20 cases, close personal contacts – 7 cases, and joined a party – 1 case
10. Back from other provinces in Pathum Thani – 22 cases
11. 20  cases close contacts of a confirmed patient (under investigation)

Thailand to consider reinstating quarantine for all foreign tourists after 63 Omicron cases found. It also is a first step toward reclosing the borders to tourists entirely. Should omicron catch fire in Thailand and spread as it has in the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, and Denmark, Thailand’s overcautious former generals might simply choose to shut everything down again until omicron subsides.- Pattaya Mail

Thailand to consider reinstating quarantine for all foreign tourists after 63 Omicron cases found

Pattaya MailDecember 20, 2021

The CCSA will consider a proposal this week to reimpose mandatory quarantine for all arrivals due to the coronavirus omicron variant.

The Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration this week will consider a proposal to reimpose mandatory quarantine for all arrivals due to the coronavirus omicron variant.

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul – who does not have a vote on the CCSA – said on a television news program Monday morning that Thailand now has seen 63 cases of the omicron variant – 62 of which were found in quarantine. The other case is the wife of an airline pilot.



Another 20 cases are pending investigation, Anutin added.

Her coronavirus test results are being sequenced and, if found to be the omicron variant, the case would be the first of local transmission of the highly contagious variant in the kingdom.

As a result, Anutin said, the CCSA should cancel the "Test & Go" scheme it began Nov. 1 allowing tourists to spend only a single night in quarantine and reinstate full "sandbox" or alternative quarantine measures.

Under a sandbox scheme, tourists and returning Thais and expats would be confined to one city or district for a week and be forced to undergo at least two invasive and costly RT-PCR tests. Under an AQ scheme, arrivals would be confined to their hotels for 14 days.

Currently, under Test & Go, people must take a PCR test upon arrival and wait in their hotel until the test results come back. The system has worked as designed, so far, with omicron-infected arrivals – which include a good number of Thais who visited Africa – found upon arrival.

Airline crew are not subject to the Test & Go rules, which is how the pilot managed to infect his wife.

Anutin said he would make his proposal to the CCSA, which will consider it this week.

If approved, it will deal a crushing blow to Thailand's tourism industry, which is only now coming back to life. Experience has shown that tourists are unwilling to go to places where mandatory quarantine is required.



It also is a first step toward reclosing the borders to tourists entirely. Should omicron catch fire in Thailand and spread as it has in the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa, and Denmark, Thailand's overcautious former generals might simply choose to shut everything down again until omicron subsides.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he didn't foresee imposing another national lockdown. But that could change should new daily omicron cases reach 50,000-100,000 a day.

The original version of this story appeared in the Bangkok Herald, a Pattaya Mail partner.