BANGKOK, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's top virologist on Monday warned that the COVID-19 mutated G strain, found amongst Thai returnees from abroad, is highly contagious.
The mutated G strain which is prevalent in the United States and Europe, is more contagious than the S strain, said Dr. Yong Poovorawan, medical professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University. "Thailand identified the S strain when COVID-19 pandemic first started in the country, however the doctors have now discovered a more dangerous strain amongst Thai returnees. They are the mutated G strain which still is prevalent in the United States and Europe."
Yong, who is part of the COVID-19 leading team under the Ministry of Health, said that should Thailand experience a second wave of infections, the G strain virus, or G614, will be dominant, because it is about 10 times more contagious than the S strain originally identified in Asia.
Yong said that the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has been cooperating closely with the Institute for Prevention and Control of Urban Diseases, to study infections in state quarantine facilities, so that Thailand will be better prepared in case there is a second outbreak, most likely of the G strain.
The G viral strain causes a heavy virus load in the throats of patients and, hence, it is readily transmissible, he said.
The Thai government has been extremely cautious in its efforts in stemming and containing the pandemic.
The CCSA spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin on said that as of Monday, Thailand has not seen a single locally acquired infection for 49 consecutive days.
Also, the case of the Egyptian solider who tested positive for COVID-19 in Thailand had prompted Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to order a revamp of measures concerning arrivals of special foreign delegations, to prevent a repeat of the incident, Taweesin said. Enditem
