11 local, 10 international Omicron infections found in Phuket

11 local Thai women on popular party hub Bangla Road and 10 international travellers arriving at Phuket International Airport tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The local office of the Ministry of Interior operates the Phuket Info Centre where the report of the new variant infections was posted, citing the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office as its source.

Since December 13, 125 infections of the Omicron variant have been confirmed in Phuket including these 21 new infections. The 11 Thai women from Bangla Road were identified and proactive screening when antigen test kits were administered by Patong Hospital staffers. The women tested positive for Covid-19 on December 28, but the infections were just now identified as being the Omicron variant.

Employees of entertainment venues, many of which have converted to makeshift “restaurants” in order to reopen during times of Covid-19 restrictions, are subject to random weekly ATK tests to try to prevent any Covid-19 outbreaks in the area.

Staff are also required to be fully vaccinated, and venues must be closed for 3 days and scrubbed down if they are linked to any 3 connected Covid-19 infections. The rules were implemented after a cluster of infections swept through popular nightlife area at the end of November.

Meanwhile, as arriving tourists or screened by staff from the Vachira Phuket Hospital upon arrival at Phuket International Airport, 10 international travellers were identified right away with the Omicron variant of Covid-19. All 10 were entering Thailand under the Test & Go programme and, though little information was released about the infections, their countries of origin were confirmed as France, Lithuania, Mongolia, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK.

SOURCE: The Phuket News