Some of Thailand’s tourism hotspots will reopen to fully vaccinated international tourists from Tuesday, as the country tries to balance the risks posed by the Omicron variant with the need to boost the travel sector.
Tourists will be able to enter Krabi, Phang-Nga, Ko Samui, Ko Pha-ngan and Ko Tao, provided they stay at an approved hotel for at least seven days. Phuket reopened in July last year under a similar arrangement, which also requires tourists to be tested prior to and during their stay.
Thailand’s tourism industry has been devastated by the pandemic. Almost 40 million foreigners arrived in Thailand in 2019, but visitor numbers fell to just 6.7 million in 2020 as Covid-19 halted international travel. The government previously eased entry requirements across the country last year in an attempt to boost the economy, but then suspended arrivals late in December in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
To reduce infections, the government has also encouraged people to work from home, and has banned the consumption of alcohol in restaurants after 9pm in high risk areas, including the capital Bangkok.
Thailand has vaccinated roughly 70% of the population. On Monday, 7,926 new cases and 13 deaths were reported.
South Korea is reporting a daily rise of 3,007 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 34 deaths, according to data recently published by the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
A total of 86.4 % of the population have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and 83.9 % have received at least two doses.
An alert reader has also shared their experience of living in South Korea throughout the pandemic.
“We’ve had minimal disruption to our daily lives (bar wanting to travel abroad during vacation) the last two years, and still have low numbers,†English teacher Dominic Evans told the Guardian. “Everybody wears masks in public. Showing proof of vaccination is compulsory now for most places and vaccine uptake is shooting along.
“The Korean situation shows you can diligently ‘live with Covid’, control the numbers, still have a normal daily life, and still have public services and day to day services running smoothly.â€
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New Zealand not prepared for Omicron outbreak, experts warn
Two of New Zealand’s most prominent Covid-19 experts have warned that the country is unprepared to prevent the health system from being overloaded by an Omicron outbreak, with likely fatal consequences.
Otago University’s Dr Nick Wilson and Dr Michael Baker also said it was only a “matter of weeks†before the highly transmissible variant seeped into the community due to border failures.
Wilson said that despite New Zealand’s high vaccination rates, the number of adults who had received a booster dose of the vaccine – essential for minimising the effects of Omicron – remains dangerously low, and noted that the vaccine rollout for children between five and 11 still had not begun.
Read the full story here.
China has reported 157 new confirmed coronavirus cases for 9 January, down slightly from 165 a day earlier, its health authority said on Monday.
Of the new infections, 97 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 92 a day earlier. Most of the new local cases were in Henan, Tianjin and Shaanxi.
According to Bloomberg, China saw its first community spread of the Omicron variant after two cases were detected in the port city of Tianjin and later confirmed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDCP).
The news publication said the cases were known after a local branch of the CCDCP completed genome sequencing, citing a CCTV report.
The infections were reported to be from the same transmission chain but officials have yet to establish if the strain is the same as imported Omicron cases reported earlier in Tianjin, according to the report.
China also reported 42 new asymptomatic cases, which it classifies separately from confirmed cases, down from 46 a day earlier.
There were no new deaths, leaving the death toll at 4,636. Mainland China had 103,776 confirmed cases as of 9 January.
Djokovic’s counsel Nicholas Wood has said the delegate for the minister making the decision to cancel his visa has not provided evidence that previous infection from Covid-19 is not a valid reason for medical exemption from being vaccinated against Covid-19 prior to entering Australia.
And in that case, the only evidence that can be relied upon is the Atagi guidelines, which did say vaccination can be deferred for up to six months from infection as a valid reason for a medical exemption.
Djokovic’s visa was cancelled at 7.29am, and the tennis player was informed at 7.42am. He had been asking for until 8.30am to respond to the cancellation notice, and needed to speak to people. The government made the decision on the basis of what he had provided up to that point.
The government suggested “a response†made from Djokovic counts as responding to the notice to cancel the visa, while Djokovic’s counsel argues that reading would change it from someone having a right to a response, to the delegate for the minister having discretion over how much or little of a response from someone counts in responding to the notice.
In submissions, the government argued that to allow such extensions of time would amount to filibustering.
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Updated
Tennis number one Novak Djokovic is currently appealing in court against the cancellation of his Australian visa ahead of the Australian Open.
The hearing kicked off at 10am AEST in Melbourne, which was 11pm GMT or 6pm EST. The 34-year-old is being held at a quarantine hotel in Melbourne.
Judge Anthony Kelly has noted that the ONLY ground the delegate relied on when deciding to cancel Djokovic’s visa is that: “the presence of its holder in Australia is or may be, or would or might be, a risk to: (i) the health, safety or good order of the Australian community or a segment of the Australian communityâ€.
Djokovic’s counsel Nicholas Wood notes in the request for declaration of vaccination, Djokovic claimed he cannot be vaccinated on medical grounds.
When prompted to provide proof, Djokovic uploaded the medical exemption document from the CMO at Tennis Australia.
Kelly said a “matter that has really preoccupied me†is the status attached to the Tennis Australia document, and questions why it was not accepted by the delegate making the decision on the visa:
Here, a professor and an eminently qualified physician have produced and provided to the applicant a medical exemption. Further to that, that medical exemption and the basis on which it was given was separately given by a further independent expert specialist panel established by the Victorian state government and that document was in the hands of the delegate.
The point I am agitated about is ‘what more could this man have done?’
Wood also accused the Australian government’s delegate of an “utter paucity of evidence†in the section of the notice in which they were required to explain why grounds to cancel the visa exist.
Wood argued it is “manifestly incorrect†that the biosecurity determination requires both a declaration of an exemption and evidence of the exemption – only the former is required, Djokovic’s team argues.
He also said the Department of Home Affairs, before [Djokovic] left, said Djokovic met the requirements for quarantine-free travel.
He’s made the declaration, provided the evidence even though it was not required, and then he received [notice] from the Department of Home Affairs … saying the application has been assessed and meets the required for quarantine-free travel.â€
Wood says any reasonable person would have considered he ticked every box.
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US Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced she tested positive for Covid-19.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the office of the New York progressive said she was “experiencing symptoms and recovering at homeâ€.
“The congresswoman received her booster shot this fall and encourages everyone to get their booster and follow all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidanceâ€.
UK government urges all pregnant women to get immediate Covid jab
Germany to study rapid antigen-test reliability for Omicron
Germany will study how reliable rapid antigen tests are in detecting the Omicron variant of Covid-19, health minister Karl Lauterbach said on Sunday.
“We do not know exactly how well these tests work for Omicron,†Lauterbach said on public broadcasting channel ARD, adding the results of the assessment would become available within the next few weeks.
It was clear, however, that “the alternative not to test at all … would be far too dangerous,†said Lauterbach, a scientist and physician.
Omicron now accounts for 44% of coronavirus infections in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious disease said. On Sunday, RKI registered 36,552 newly reported Covid infections within 24 hours, three times the number a week earlier.
Late last month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also released a statement saying rapid antigen tests appear less sensitive to Omicron than previous variants.
“Early data suggests that antigen tests do detect the Omicron variant but may have reduced sensitivity,†the FDA said at the time.
40% of Israel could be infected in current wave, PM says
