Nine villages in Tak Bai district, where the first cases of the South African variant of COVID-19 were detected, remain closed to prevent the malignant strain from spreading to other areas in Narathiwat province.
Department of Disease Control (DDC) Director-General Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong said those villages are under lockdown after health authorities detected the South African variant in three people, who have fully recovered from their infections. The province had originally planned the lockdown from May 8th to Saturday only, but the restrictions are still being enforced.
He said the South African variant, detected in Tak Bai, was similar to that found in Malaysia. An investigation by the department found the strain was imported into Thailand by a Malaysian woman, who illegally crossed the border to Thailand with her son and mother-in-law to visit her husband in Tak Bai from April 12-May 4.
Dr. Opas said the DDC is paying attention to this strain, due to its increased resistance to vaccines, stressing the importance of inoculations to reduce the chance of infections. (NNT)
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