Thailand is Now Randomly Testing Travellers from S’pore for XBB Subvariant

Singapore is, apparently, the country that has an XBB outbreak right now.

And no, XBB doesn’t stand for xiao bao bei (little baby/darling). Instead, XBB is the new sub-variant driving the current wave of COVID-19 infection.

Thailand will be stepping up surveillance in their airports, and any arrivals from Singapore and Hong Kong with respiratory symptoms will be randomly tested for the XBB variant.

Why Travellers from SG and HK?

Thailand’s Department of Disease Control (DDC) revealed on 14 October that 29 people who arrived in Hong Kong tested positive for the XBB strain.

21 of these cases were returning from Singapore, while three were from Thailand. 24 of these cases were detected upon arrival, while the other five tested positive on their second day in Hong Kong.

The DDC said that investigations into the three XBB cases from Thailand showed that there was no local transmission of the variant in Thailand yet.

Interestingly, an article by Bangkok Post called the XBB variant the “Singapore variant”. 

You can watch this video to know why some media outlets are calling it the “Singapore variant”:

What We Know About XBB

According to recent studies and variant tracks alike, the XBB strain, otherwise known as BA.2.10, is proving to be the most immune-evasive yet.

What this means is that it has a higher chance of infecting people, even if they have been vaccinated.

The XBB strain is a combination of mutations from two Omicron strains, which explains its enhanced transmissibility, ability to evade antibody protections, and the consistent mild symptoms experienced by patients.

There has been a large increase in COVID-19 cases in Singapore due to the XBB strain, with daily caseloads exceeding 10,000 again. About 55% of infections were from the XBB strain.

However, we should also take note that the XBB strain is not causing more severe illness.

Most of the infected are reported to experience mild symptoms, such as a sore throat or slight fever.

You can read more about the XBB strain here.

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Possibly Bringing Back Stricter Mask Rules

In a sudden press briefing by the Ministry of Health on the XBB strain, MOH said that there’s a very real possibility that stricter mask mandates might be brought back.

While Singapore is striving to never go back to the stringent restrictions imposed during the circuit breaker period during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, safe management measures cannot be ruled out completely.

This is especially if we want to ensure adequate healthcare capacity to cope with the surge in cases.

Public hospitals here have already put in place several measures, such as deferring non-urgent admissions, to provide 200 more beds to care for COVID-19 patients.

In the next two weeks, public hospitals will operate a total of more than 800 beds for COVID-19 patients. Capacity at COVID-19 treatment facilities will also be ramped up in stages to provide more than 800 beds by November.

Although we will likely have adequate healthcare capacity for the incoming surge, we should all still exercise personal responsibility and avoid overwhelming our healthcare system.

You can read more about the press briefing here.

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Featured Image: shutterstock.com / Sergei Sokolnikov