As of midnight on December 22, no new applications for quarantine exemptions under the Thailand Pass scheme will be considered. The government says this is a temporary suspension rather than a permanent ban, but there's no date yet for when the hold might be lifted.

The pass, which was under the "Test & Go program," kicked off November 1.

Travelers who have already applied and been approved won't be affected by the new regulations. However, if they haven't yet entered Thailand they will now be required to take two PCR tests after arriving, one of which will be at a government facility.

Thailand has also announced it will expand the nationwide contact tracing program, but it hasn't yet shared specifics on how that will happen.

Those who have applied for the Thailand Pass but not yet gotten approved can also continue on as normal once they get a response to their application.

The Omicron variant was first identified by scientists in South Africa in November. It is now the dominant strain of new infections in the United States.

Source: CNN

Powered by NewsAPI.org