Prachuap governor asks private sector to consider suspending NYE events in Hua Hin. ASEAN NOW



 

By Paul Andrews

 

Hua Hin's private sector has been asked to consider suspending any planned New Year's Eve events as a precautionary measure to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and in particular the omicron variant of the virus.

 

According to an order released on Monday (Dec 27), the Provincial Governor Dr. Sathien Charoenruen, has asked for co-operation from the private sector throughout the province to consider suspending or reducing activities this New Year's Eve.

 

In the order, the governor also announced that any events organised by the local municipality, government or public sector will be cancelled.

 

Full story: https://www.huahintoday.com/hua-hin-news/prachuap-governor-asks-private-sector-to-consider-suspending-nye-events-in-hua-hin/

 

-- © Copyright Hua Hin Today 2021-12-28

Danish family placed in isolation in Thailand after daughter test positive for Covid-19. ASEAN NOW

Emili has been isolated in solitary confinement at the hospital after she tested positive for Covid-19.

 

by Gregers Møller

 

A Danish family has been placed in isolation in Thailand after their 18-year-old daughter tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in the country. 

 

According to BT, the family departed for Thailand on 20 December for what was supposed to be a Christmas and New Year holiday. Before departure, they feel that they took all precautions as well as familiarizing themselves with the applicable travel restrictions, and all tested negative before getting on the plane. Upon arrival at Phuket Airport, they were tested again before they were taken to their hotel on Koh Lanta in the province of Krabi five hours away. 

 

Here they had to stay in their hotel room while waiting for the results to come back. The five-hour transfer was not something the family had originally booked, but something that the travel agency Tui, through which they have booked the trip, had organized because it is currently not possible to fly directly to Krabi. The transfer had been sold as a two-hour drive, not five.

 

Full story: https://scandasia.com/danish-family-placed-in-isolation-in-thailand-after-daughter-test-positive-for-covid-19/

 

-- © Copyright ScandAsia 2021-12-28

😥😥😥😥😥 From bad to worse !!! 😥😥😥😥😥. Richard Barrow / Bangkok Post

 🔴 The Public Health Ministry has decided to raise the nation's Covid-19 alert level following a rapid increase in Omicron variant infections, warning that new cases may surge to 30,000 a day early next year unless strict precautions are followed https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2238655/omicron-prompts-new-alert 

🔴 Tourism operators are losing hope in both the New Year and Chinese New Year holidays as the Public Health Ministry forecasts a worst-case scenario of over 30,000 Omicron infections per day in the first quarter https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2238707/tourism-fears-mount-over-omicron #Thailand

Det här hotellet har tydligen inga höga tankar om de närmaste 6 månaderna då erbjudandet gäller t.o.m 30 juni 2022. Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort

There is no travel cutoff date (for now) for those approved to enter Thailand under the Test & Go or Sandbox entry schemes. Following the decision to close Thailand Pass registration for the two schemes, the government announced the last group of approved travellers would arrive on January 10. The Thaiger

No cutoff date for those approved to enter Thailand under Test & Go, Sandbox

By 

Caitlin Ashworth

Monday, December 27, 2021 18:27

There is no travel cutoff date (for now) for those approved to enter Thailand under the Test & Go or Sandbox entry schemes. Following the decision to close Thailand Pass registration for the two schemes, the government announced the last group of approved travellers would arrive on January 10.That date was never posted in the Royal Gazette, and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed with The Thaiger that there is no cutoff date.

The entry schemes and current regulations will be reviewed on January 4 by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. The urgent decision to close registration for the two entry schemes, with the exception of the Phuket Sandbox, was made after Thailand's first local Omicron transmission was reported.

The Thai government posted a graphic with the January 10 date and an announcement on both the official Royal Thai Government website and the government spokesperson's Facebook page. (The posts are still up.)

The date was also reported by numerous media outlets – both Thai and English – including the National News Bureau of Thailand, which is run by the Government Public Relations Department, and Thai PBS World, which is owned by the Royal Thai Government.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says reports of the January 10 cutoff date are false. The Ministry's Department of Consular Affairs runs the Thailand Pass website and no cutoff date is mentioned on the website.

New cases projected at 10,000-30,000 a day, with 70-180 deaths. New Covid-19 infections could surge to 10,000 or even 30,000 cases a day early next year, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, a senior Public Health Ministry official said on Monday. The warning was issued as the number of new Omicron cases soared five-fold, from 104 on Tuesday to 514 on Sunday. Bangkok Post

Health officials outline likely scenarios as Omicron spreads

Permanent health secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit (left) and Opas Karnkawinpong, head of the Department of Disease Control, during the media briefing at the Public Health Ministry, with the graph on the wall showing the projected upward trend in the number of Omicron variant cases. (Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya)

New Covid-19 infections could surge to 10,000 or even 30,000 cases a day early next year, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, a senior Public Health Ministry official said on Monday.

The warning was issued as the number of new Omicron cases soared five-fold, from 104 on Tuesday to 514 on Sunday.

The ministry has drawn up three possible scenarios, permanent health secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit said.

In the best-case scenario, the country could be looking at 10,000 new patients and 70 fatalities a day as early as late January, and 15,000 new cases and 100 deaths in the second-best projection. 

In the worst-case scenario, the figures could jump to 30,000 new cases and 180 deaths a day if Omicron infections quickly spike. 

Graphs presented at the briefing showed the daily tally of new Omicron infections peaking in late January or early February in the best and second-best scenarios.

Dr Kiattiphum said the situation in these two scenarios would be brought under control in one or two months.

In the worst outlook, new infections would reach their peak in early March before the numbers gradually declined.

Dr Kiattiphum said it would take three to four months for health authorities to control the situation in the worst outlook.

The ministry did not expect the fatality rate from the new variant to be as high as from the Delta variant, but it would likely spread faster .

Daily new infections and deaths currently continue to decline with more people having been vaccinated, but Omicron threatens to reverse that trend, with Thailand recording its first case of Omicron on Dec 6 and the first community infection on Dec 20.

Dr Kiattiphum said strict health measures, the vaccination campaign and cooperation from the public, including strict obersvation of social distancing rules, would determine the success or failure of the fight against Omicron.

"We are at a crossroads again," Dr Kiattiphum said.

Cases jump

Omicron cases jumped five-fold, from 104 last Tuesday to 514 on Sunday, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Monday.

"Two-thirds of the Omicron cases were arrivals and the other third were people in close contact with infected people," CCSA spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangson said.

The biggest cluster originated with a couple who returned to Kalasin from a visit to relatives in Belgium on Dec 10. They had infected 21 other people as of last Friday.

The Delta variant still accounted for 56% of new cases in the country, but Omicron was  expected to take over very soon, according to the ministry.

Holiday surge

Opas Karnkawinpong, the Department of Disease Control director-general, said the ministry was concerned about a likely rise in new cases after the holiday season as a result of the movement of people and their close contacts with others.

Infections would rise from people returning to home provinces to mark the New Year with their families, and revellers at New Year countdown events.

"A wider spread of the virus is expected after the New Year celebrations," Dr Opas said. He advised offices that have adopted the work-from-home format to continue with it to help limit the spread of the disease. 

Although the country is under threat from the new variant, Dr Kiattiphum said, hospitals nationwide had sufficient beds to handle the situation because of the low 10% occupancy rate at present.

"We have more than enough hospital beds," he said. "We have been through Delta, which was deadlier."



For those people who are eligible for the free RT-PCR test on Days 5-7, you should be given a letter, like the one attached, to take to a designated lab. This is for people who arrived from last Friday onwards. Phuket Sandbox people must pay by themselves (H/T @physioengineer). Richard Barrow

 

Foreign Ministry Announces Important Updates for Thailand Pass. ASEAN NOW / NNT

 

By Paul Rujopakarn

    

BANGKOK (NNT) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced important updates for applicants registering for entry into Thailand. Following a surge in Omicron coronavirus cases, the government has suspended the Test & Go and Sandbox applications - with the exception of the Phuket Sandbox program - from the Thailand Pass system until further notice.

 

According to the new updates, applicants who have already obtained their Thailand Pass QR code are eligible to enter the Kingdom under the plan for which they have registered. Registered applicants who have not yet received their QR code must wait for their Thailand Pass application to be considered and approved. They will be allowed entry under the program for which they have registered after they have been accepted.

 

New applicants must apply for entry with Thailand Pass through the Phuket Sandbox scheme or Alternative Quarantine (AQ) packages. Travelers arriving in Thailand through the Test & Go and Sandbox programs must take a second COVID-19 test using the RT-PCR method (not the ATK/antigen self-test) at government-designated facilities at no extra cost.

 

Applicants will be required to enter quarantine after arriving in Thailand. Fully vaccinated people entering the Kingdom under the Phuket Sandbox program will have to stay in the area for 7 days after their arrival. Applicants entering via AQ scheme are required to enter quarantine for 10 days at government-designated locations.

 

Tanee Sangrat, director-general of the Department of Information and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said related agencies will conduct a thorough assessment of the situation. He added that the ministry will provide any new updates as soon as possible and emphasized that the revised measures are only temporary and are aimed at preventing the spread of the Omicron variant.