Thailand detects 2 more potential Omicron cases

Thailand detects 2 more potential Omicron cases

Travellers are seen at the quiet Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)
Travellers are seen at the quiet Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday. (Photo: Somchai Poomlard)

Thailand has detected two more possible Omicron cases, two Thai women returning from Nigeria, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Wednesday.

The CCSA said a 46-year-old woman and a 36-year-old woman returned to Bangkok on Nov 24 on the same flight from Nigeria via Dohar on Qatar Airways flight QR803.

They are being quarantined at the Bussarakham field hospital because they were unvaccinated and in any case did not come from the 63 countries or territories exempt from quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers.  

Their RT-PCR test results on Nov 24 were positive for the coronavirus, according to the CCSA.

Following the World Health Organisation's declaration of Omicron as a new variant of concern on Nov 26, health officials decided to double-check samples from the women taken on Nov 24. Both women were "potentially" infected with the Omicron variant, Sumanee Wacharasin of the Department of Disease Control told the CCSA briefing.

The specimens were sent to a Department of Medical Sciences lab for further detailed testing and the results would come out within days, she added.

Dr Sumanee said an investigation by the Department of Disease Control revealed that the two women did not wear masks while participating in a meeting in Nigeria.

Thailand announced on Sunday the detection of the first Omicron case in a US citizen of Thai descent. He entered Thailand from Spain.

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