Over 9,000: Thailand doesn’t break sweat despite COVID bump, eyes travel bubbles

The COVID-meter surged back up to its highest point of the year with nearly 9,200 cases confirmed today as the nation looks to expand travel links.

While the official numbers are likely vastly undercounted, they slid to 10-day low on Tuesday of 7,422 before spiking to 8,587 the next day and 9,172 today. Still, the most relevant data point – hospital utilization – remains little changed since mid-January after exploding with the new year as the Omicron variant spread.

It hasn’t been enough to pause discussions underway today about establishing travel bubbles with several neighboring countries following Tuesday’s reopening of the so-called Test & Go scheme for vaccinated travel. 

Phipaht Ratchakitprakarn, tourism ministry spokesperson, said Thailand was talking to countries such as Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia about opening travel bubbles. 

What is a…