Expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said in a Facebook post on Saturday that people should not be careless, especially with the arrival of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron.
He explained that this variant affects the throat first and can spread quickly, but pointed out that people have learned how to protect themselves better over the past two years.
Though Thailand has had more than 2 million Covid-19 cases, less than 1 per cent of them have succumbed to the virus, unlike the US and Europe, he pointed out.
Yong said that though Thailand was slow in administering vaccines, it was better at preventing the virus from spreading.
“We were not able to prevent it to the point of no patients at all, but we could reduce the number of patients as much as possible,” the post read.
Applauding Thais for their good discipline in adhering to strict measures, he said that following the “new normal” guidelines and getting as many people jabbed as possible will bring life back to pre-Covid levels soon.
The Chulalongkorn University virologist also said that Thailand has enough vaccine doses available and the most important factor now is to find those who have not been vaccinated.
“Getting double jabbed will prevent infections from Delta or Omicron variants from getting too severe,” he said.
A clip was posted on the Facebook page “Mueang Prakan News v2” on Friday evening showing three children lying on the shoulder of a very busy road near Samut Prakan’s Black Market area.
The images, captured by a dashcam, showed the three children lying prone on the shoulder a few metres after the U-turn in the right-most lane. They could have easily been run over by a speeding car.
The person who posted the clip said he had driven out of Big C Samut Prakan and was taking the U-turn to pick up his older brother from the Robinson department store on the other side.
He said he was shocked to see the three children on the side of a very busy and not very well lit road. However, when he got out of the car to find the youngsters, they had disappeared.
The clip has gone viral and some netizens have said they often spot a group of children begging in that area, while others are calling on the authorities to investigate the matter.
Bangkok’s Nana Tai (Sukhumvit Soi 4), which is usually buzzing with Middle Eastern and African tourists, was rather quiet on Friday evening.
After the latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron, was detected in South Africa on November 24, Thailand cancelled all flights from eight southern African countries as of December 1.
Restaurants in the alley were mostly empty, though the ones near the top of the lane were doing better. The diners were generally European and American.
Though restaurants are allowed to serve alcoholic drinks until 11pm, they are also required to strictly adhere to Covid-19 prevention measures. All diners must be screened before entering, a bottle of alcohol gel must be provided at each table and social distancing must be maintained.
Every restaurant must have a Safety and Health Administration (SHA) certificate, which must be clearly displayed.
People living in Pathum Thani can now book a free Moderna booster online, the provincial administration announced on Friday.
The booster shot will be available to all Thai nationals above the age of 18 currently living in Pathum Thani. To be eligible, candidates should have received at least two jabs of either Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines 45 days earlier.
Those who have received the vaccine cocktail or other vaccines will not be eligible for the Moderna booster, according to conditions set by the Thai Red Cross Society.
Those interested can register via the Pathum Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation’s official Line account by scanning the QR code below.
The authorities are also urging those who have not received a jab yet to book a Sinopharm vaccine, which will be provided between December 14 and 20 at Zeer Rangsit shopping centre.
Applicants can book their shot by filling in a form here or by calling (02) 430 6695.
The long-overdue Bangkok gubernatorial elections will be held within 2022, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the press on Friday.
“The election will be held next year when the situation is normal and everything is ready. There’s no point in arguing about it now,” the premier told the press.
Though a Bangkok governor’s term lasts no more than four years, the incumbent, Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang, has been in office since October 18, 2016. He was appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order.
The gubernatorial elections have been pushed back indefinitely due to the Covid-19 outbreak and political rallies.
Meanwhile, Prayut also told the press that he will stay in his position until his term ends in March 2023.
“If the country continues being peaceful, I will serve until my term is over. Let’s hope there is no political accident that causes damage to the country until the time comes,” he said.
When asked if he would go for the job of party-list MP after his term as PM ends, Prayut said he will consider that option closer to the time.
He also voiced concerns about the pilots of the F5 fighter aircraft that crash-landed in Lopburi’s Chai Badan district on Friday afternoon.
Wing Commander Sutthimet Uamma, 36, of the 21st Squadron in Ubon Ratchathani sustained serious injuries as he ejected from the plane before it crashed in an unpopulated area during a training exercise. The other two pilots, who also ejected from the plane, suffered minor injuries.
Royal Thai Armed Forces spokesman Lt-General Kongcheep Tantrawanich said on Friday that the seriously injured pilot is in hospital and officials are investigating the cause of the crash. He also added that the F5 fighter aircraft has been in commission for 43 years since 1978 and was undergoing an overhaul to boost its efficiency.
The governors of Battambang and Pailin province met with their counterpart from Thailands Chanthaburi province to discuss reopening the border to allow legally permitted Cambodian migrant workers to return to work, according to the Battamabang provincial administration.
The meeting was attended by Battambang provincial governor Sok Lou, Pailin governor Ban Sreymom and Chanthaburi provincial governor Suthee Thongyam.
They talked about facilitating the commuting procedures for Cambodians who are still working in Chanthaburi province despite the pandemic.
The Battambang provincial administration said that the Thai authorities will reopen the border checkpoints between Chanthaburi and Battambang for lawfully employed migrant workers soon.
They said that workers will only get permission to work in Thailand if they have already been fully vaccinated with two doses and tested they’ve tested negative for Covid-19. They must also undergo quarantine and have to undergo quarantine in Thailand.
Workers who are unsure of their employment status should contact their employers as they are responsible for the workers once they are in Thailand.
President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, via video link on Friday.
The two leaders also jointly witnessed the opening of the China-Laos Railway in a virtual ceremony.
The first train bound for China left on Friday afternoon after the railway was put into operation.
The China-Laos Railway is a docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos’ strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.
It will bring new opportunities and provide huge momentum in strengthening Laos’ economy. The train route will connect the Chinese city of Kunming to the Lao capital Vientiane, with grand plans for high-speed rail to ultimately snake down through Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore.
Amid worries over the omicron variant of COVID-19, Korean testing kit makers showed confidence in their equipment’s ability to detect the new virus variant, pushing up their stock prices again.
GreenCross Medical Science said Friday that the effectiveness of its COVID-19 testing kit has been confirmed for the new omicron variant as well.
In order to assess the validity of the result from its testing equipment, GCMS conducted the ‘in-silico’ experiment, which refers to a type of analysis performed through computer simulation.
The company said the analysis confirmed that the gene sequence of the omicron variant did not affect the target area of its testing kit, meaning that it can pick up whether the person is infected regardless of the variant.
After the announcement was made on Friday, the company’s stock price began to surge. The stock closed at 7,720 won ($6.53), up 9.5 percent from the closing price the previous day.
A day earlier, Boditech Med also said that the company completed the evaluation of its COVID-19 testing kit product’s effectiveness on the omicron variant.
The company explained that most of virus variants are taking place in the spike protein, which is located on the outside of the virus. But as Boditech Med’s testing kits mostly target the nucleocapsid protein that is placed on the inside of the virus surface, their equipment to confirm the COVID-19 infection is not hindered by the new variant, it added.
“Outside of the testing kits already being sold, we are in the process of developing a testing kit that can determine the infection of the omicron variant with one test,” a Boditech Med official said.
Seegene’s virus diagnostic reagent can detect the omicron variant, the company said Wednesday.
The diagnostic reagent targets four COVID-19 virus genes and five variant genes, the company explained, and of the genes that the omicron variant contains, three kinds can be spotted by Seegene’s product. If those three variant genes are found, the case can be presumed to be an omicron variant infection, it added.
“Considering the speed of the spread and the danger of the virus, this omicron variant has a chance to take away our everyday life again. Because of this, proactively diagnosing the variant in the early stages of the spread is more important now,” said Chun Jong-yoon, CEO of Seegene, in a press release.
“Our (diagnostic reagent) will help each country’s government quickly sort out people who are possibly infected with the omicron variant and take control.”
The omicron variant is the fifth virus designated as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization, following the alpha, beta, gamma and delta variants. According to the WHO, the new virus variant was reported in 23 countries across the world as of Wednesday.
HCM CITY – Secondary and high school students in HCM City will have 12 to 30 in-person lessons per week, depending on COVID-19 risk levels, when the city allows schools to reopen.
According to the city Department of Education and Training, students attending schools in areas of low risk would have no more than 30 in-person lessons per week, while extra classes will be held online.
Under the plan, schools in areas of medium risk would teach no more than 18 in-person lessons per week. These lessons will mainly be from the main curriculum and for tutoring purposes to make up for past online lessons. Students in the sixth, ninth and 12th grades in medium-risk areas will be allocated more in-person lessons, but no more than 24 per week.
Schools in high-risk areas can only attend up to 12 in-person lessons per week, and cannot hold other school events. Students in the sixth, ninth and 12th grades in these areas can have up to six more weekly lessons.
Schools in “very high” risk areas will have online classes only.
Students living in other provinces who cannot return to HCM City, who have underlying health problems, or are under quarantine will continue online classes or through another medium such as television.
Secondary and high schools have been asked to evaluate their online teaching during the past semester, and be prepared to organise tutoring classes when students return to school.
Schools must also discuss pandemic safety measures with parents and submit plans to city districts’ and Thủ Đức City’s pandemic prevention and control steering committees by December 5.
The city will begin a pilot school reopening period of two weeks beginning on December 13 when students from the first, ninth and 12th grades will be allowed to return to school. Five-year-old children will be permitted to attend kindergarten on December 20.
Students in other grades will gradually be allowed to return to schools beginning on January 3.
Meanwhile, Thạnh An island commune in Cần Giờ District, which allowed students from some grades to attend school on October 20, will welcome back students at all levels on December 13.
Exams for the first semester for all schools will be held from January 10-22.
As of the end of November, more than 598,000 children aged 12 to 17 in HCM City have been fully vaccinated. – VNS
SINGAPORE – The battle to fend off the new Omicron coronavirus variant has got a boost from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits developed by home-grown medical technology firm Acumen Diagnostics.
Its two PCR test kits – Acu-Corona 2.0 and Acu-Corona Duplex – which can detect the Delta variant, can also identify the Omicron strain. These kits are already in use.
It was reported on Thursday (Dec 2) that two imported Covid-19 cases have preliminarily tested positive for the Omicron variant in Singapore.
The Acu-Corona 2.0 test targets two Covid-19 genes – RdRp and E – that are present in both the Omicron and Delta variants.
Meanwhile, the Acu-Corona Duplex test targets the E gene and S gene. The portion of the S gene targeted by the test does not contain any of the 32 mutations in the Omicron variant, hence it can detect the variant without any loss of sensitivity.
Omicron has a large number of gene mutations that have not been reported in a single viral variant before. So far, scientists have seen 32 mutations in the spike gene of Omicron, whereas there are nine mutations in Delta’s spike gene, and this gives them reason to believe that Omicron may have fairly different characteristics from previous variants.
The spike protein is an important part of the virus that allows it to bind to human cells and facilitate infection of the cells. So a change in the spike protein may change the ability of the virus to infect cells and cause adverse effects.
Acumen Diagnostics said on Friday that since the kits are manufactured locally, they can be deployed quickly and cost about half the price of imported ones.
The firm currently operates two laboratories that can process 7,000 diagnostic tests daily.
Dr Ong Siew Hwa, Acumen Diagnostics’ chief executive officer and chief scientist, said: “With PCR tests remaining the gold standard to detect Covid-19, Acumen Diagnostics remains well positioned to help Singapore tackle this new challenge posed by the virus.”
Acumen Diagnostics is not the only firm whose existing kits are capable of detecting Omicron.
Biotech firm MiRXES, which is currently using its Fortitude 2.1 Covid-19 PCR kit in Singapore, has also said the kit can detect all Sars-CoV-2 variants of concern identified so far, including Delta and Omicron.
Local biotech company BioAcumen Global also said the new variant does not affect the detection capability of its existing kit, the BioA SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time RT-PCR kit v2.0.
All these kits detect both Delta and Omicron, but are not able to distinguish between the two. To confirm if a positive Covid-19 case has been infected by the Omicron variant, gene sequencing is necessary.
A preliminary study by South African scientists published on Thursday suggests that the Omicron variant is three times more likely to cause reinfections compared with the Delta or Beta strain.
The spread of Omicron has upset the reopening of travel in many countries.
In Singapore, tighter border measures took effect from 11.59pm on Thursday, and three planned vaccinated travel lanes for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been postponed indefinitely.
Malaysia has temporarily banned the entry of travellers from countries that have reported the Omicron variant or are considered high-risk. The travel ban so far applies to eight African countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, but this could be extended to other places where the variant has been detected.
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