Thailand has detected its first case of Omicron.
The coronavirus variant was found in a Thai businessman who arrived in the country from Spain, Public Health Ministry officials said on Monday.
The new variant was detected in an RT-PCR test conducted when the 35-year-old man arrived in Thailand.
The Department of Disease Control said the businessman was a US citizen who had lived in Spain for one year before he arrived in Thailand.
He was on Emirates Airline flight EK372 from Dubai to Suvarnabhumi Airport and showed no symptoms.
The man took an RT-PCR test in Spain on Nov 28 before he left for Thailand via the United Arab Emirates. He had received one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which usually requires only a single shot.
He was being treated at a hospital.
Officials said "the chance that the infection is the Omicron variant is 99.92%".
The ministry said the patient had been in contact with two airport staff and 17 hotel staff members.
