Thailand has detected a potential Omicron case in a Thai man arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a test underway to confirm whether he is the fourth COVID-19 Omicron variant infection in the country, as the first three detections have now been confirmed, said Director-General of the Medical Sciences Department Dr. Supakit Sirilak, today (Thursday).
The three other confirmed cases include an American businessman arriving from Spain via Dubai and two Thai women returning from Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, via Qatar.
Dr. Supakit said that the two Thai women have recovered and are now clear of the highly transmissible variant.
Earlier reports said the American businessman has not shown any symptoms, but he has been placed in isolation and under observation for the 14 days of his quarantine.
Dr. Supakit said that the 41-year-old Thai man arriving from the Congo is now also under observation, adding that officials have been trying to locate high-risk people who were in contact with him.
From November 1st to December 8th, the Medical Sciences Department has employed SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and WGS (whole genome sequencing) tests on 1,649 arrivals from abroad.
Only four potential Omicron variant cases were detected, three of which were later confirmed. Most of the positive cases detected are of the Delta variant.
