8 Tourist provinces Planning to Reopen October 1...???

[Old git]

The UK moved Thailand to the red list because of the increase in covid case rates, as well as the low vaccination levels which leave Thailand vulnerable to the new covid variants. The data being collected and reported related to vaccination levels is clearly flawed and unreliable which may have also contributed to the "code red" designation.

I haven't seen any information released by the UK suggesting that genomic sequencing had anything to do with their decision - but could very well have missed this.

The organisation that is collating the genome data for the WHO (I forget the acronym) put Thailand on the bad boy list for not reporting enough data. Without sufficient surveillance and reported data, a new nasty variant of Covid might go unseen and then be spread by travellers. That (I think) is the primary logic for keeping some nations, including Thailand, red listed.

That it's been 8 months now since any significant new variant was last detected, and the scientist in charge of the AZ vaccine project is now publicly saying that she does not expect any new and dangerous variants to emerge now - should.. hopefully.. bring an end to the red list.

On the other hand, why the heck is a country like Thailand, well developed in terms of medical facilities, not reporting sufficient genomes?