The Department of Medical Sciences (DMS) has denied the new BQ.1.1 and XBB variants from Singapore have entered Thailand yet while urging people not to panic and continue with routine protection.
Dr Supakit Sirilak, the director-general of the DMS, yesterday said the dominant variant remained Omicron, or the subvariant BA.5.
According to Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data, known as Gisaid, an international genomic database, Thailand has 218 BA.4 subvariant infections and 2,152 BA.5 types.
Dr Supakit said BQ.1.1 is mutated from the subvariant BA.5 with protein spike mutations which enhance the virus’ ability to quickly spread among populations.
For XBB, he said it was a mix of Omicron subvariant BJ.1 and BA.2.75. Both of them are still absent from Thailand.
“We have not detected the new subvariants so people should not panic. They should not be alarmed by any misinformation they read on social media. I would like to encourage people to get their booster shots, especially those in vulnerable groups. The protective measures like mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing are still crucial,” said Dr Supakit.
Anan Jongkaewwattana, director of Veterinary Health Innovation and Management Research Group of Biotec, said the daily Covid-19 case tally in Singapore has risen from 1,000 people last month to 6,000-7,000 people this month.
XBB is a combination of both the BJ.1 and BA.2.75 variants — descendants of the earlier Omicron BA.2 sub-type, which is itself about 50% more contagious than BA.1.
“The new subvariant is now dominating transmission statistics in Singapore,” he wrote on Facebook. Mr Anan said the growing number of tourists between Thailand and Singapore might mean the new subvariants will enter Thailand soon.