News Forum - Koh Samui Airport scrutinising international arrivals for Omicron

[Thaiger]

After the emergence of the Omicron variant, the first international flight arriving at Samui Airport on Koh Samui faced increased scrutiny. All passengers have been strictly screened as airport employees were instructed to thoroughly check incoming international passengers to curb the possible spread of the new Covid-19 variant. The first international flight to arrive at Koh Samui Airport was from Singapore, with 54 travellers on board. None of those passengers had travelled to the 8 countries that had identified the significant spread of the Omicron variant originally. All passengers are required to show proof of vaccination as well as a […]

The story Koh Samui Airport scrutinising international arrivals for Omicron as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Dedinbed]

18 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

All passengers have been strictly screened

Bet they felt abit flat after that .. 

 

19 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

airport employees were instructed to thoroughly check incoming international passengers

twang went the rubber gloves .. 

[Jason]

All part of the government's plan to keep Omicron out. But how do they test if they don't have the Omicron genomic sequence??

[Smithydog]

53 minutes ago, Jason said:

All part of the government's plan to keep Omicron out. But how do they test if they don't have the Omicron genomic sequence??

Personally, I am more concerned that they are identified if they do have Covid-19 regardless of the type or whether they are vaccinated or not.

In my opinion, by doing so, they can be given proper instructions on what to do, be quarantined to avoid any spread (if positive) and receive any treatment if needed. Also so a proper support and retest procedure can be put into place so they can be released and enjoy what they want to do as soon as possible after being cleared.

Bit, I do think we also need to put aside difference and jointly find a better way to do things so all can move forward. To me, one way would be to find a simple, cheap and painless method to accurately identify the infection in an instant rather than what is used at the moment. Then people can make the appropriate decisions to interfere with the least number of people each time an infection is found and for 10-14 days each time. It won't kill the virus but may allow us to get some semblance of normality to return, which so many of us are equally desiring.

[tsh]

I just cannot take the man who wrote this article seriously. Wearing a damn mask in his profile picture His expression is way too serious for it to be mocking; he's clearly trying to send a message of virtue and wholesomeness.

[Chatogaster]

14 hours ago, Jason said:

All part of the government's plan to keep Omicron out. But how do they test if they don't have the Omicron genomic sequence??

 

Appending "if [something false]" to some claim or question renders it meaningless.

Some quick facts (from public documents):

1. There are already a over 200 confirmed sequences stored in the GISAID, see e.g. "Implications of the further emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 variant of concern (Omicron) for the EU/EEA– first update" (link: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/threat-assessment-covid-19-emergence-sars-cov-2-variant-omicron-december-2021.pdf)
2. Not only that, Thailand participates in the global genomic sequencing efforts, see e.g. "Genomic sequencing effort for SARS-CoV-2 by country during the pandemic" (link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971220325571)
3. Let's also not overlook that for fast (but less definite) results, S-gene target failure can be used (all it takes is a widely available type of PCR-test that has the S-gene as one of its targets).

 

(Edit: the forum editor fails to convert the links to clickable links, so Google the titles or carefully copy-paste the links)

Edited December 5, 2021 by Chatogaster
link-issue