The Ticino government tightened measures +++ 20,742 new infections in Switzerland

Fearing the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, Thailand does not want to relax entry rules that have been tightened before Christmas until at least the end of the month. “In the interest of health and safety, we have decided to postpone the reintroduction of the Test & Go form,” Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying. The proposal has yet to be approved by the Covid Crisis Center CCSA.

On December 21, the government decided to adopt a quarantine-free “Test & Go” model, according to which, since November, only fully vaccinated tourists have to take a PCR test upon arrival and then wait one night at their hotel for the result, tentatively until January 4 comment. Then the situation must be reassessed.

Tourists who had already registered for entry under the “Test & Go” form were exempted from the stricter regulations and allowed to travel to Thailand as planned. You can continue to do this, but only until January 10. New registrations are currently no longer accepted. Anyone wishing to come anyway must remain in quarantine for seven or ten days – depending on the country of origin and vaccination status.

The sandbox model, which has been in operation since July on the largest island of Phuket, where fully vaccinated tourists can take a quarantine-free vacation under certain conditions, is still in operation. However, concerns about the spread of the new species are great on the island: according to the authorities, 144 Omicron infections were recently recorded in Phuket, among locals and tourists.

The popular holiday destination reopened its borders to tourists from Germany and dozens of other countries at the beginning of November. Since then, the flow of visitors from all over the world has increased steadily – also because in the country of 70 million people, only about 3,000 new infections are reported daily.