Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has contracted Covid-19 during a working trip to Europe despite having received two vaccine doses and four booster shots.
He and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit both tested positive for Covid-19 upon returning from meetings in Europe and the United Kingdom.
Mr Jurin was initially assessed to be at high risk after one of the officials who accompanied him on a working trip to the UK and Ireland from June 18-23 came down with the virus, according to Deputy Public Health Minister Sathit Pitutecha.
Mr Sathit said Mr Jurin was not in a serious condition and was now working from home.
Also, Mr Anutin tested positive for Covid-19 and was unable to attend the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday.
Mr Anutin attended the 170th General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris on June 20-21, where he affirmed Thailand's readiness to host the 2028 Specialised Expo in Phuket.
After that he attended the 50th meeting of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 21-24.
The public health minister has been double-dosed and received four booster shots against Covid-19. Health permanent secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit reiterated that even though vaccines cannot prevent infection, they are effective in greatly reducing the severity of the symptoms. Mr Anutin and his entourage, which included high-level officials from the health and foreign affairs ministries, returned to Thailand on Sunday.
Dr Kiattiphum said that on his return Mr Anutin had muscle pains and a sore throat. He took an antigen test, which came back positive. Doctors advised him to go into self-isolation for a week.
Mr Anutin believed he caught the virus on the trip as he had met many people who weren't wearing masks.