Quarantine escapee Baruch was infected with Omicron, but Samui test result comes up negative
Israeli national Ohad Baruch, who was caught on Koh Samui on Wednesday after escaping quarantine in Bangkok, was infected with the Omicron variant during a test in the capital.
Baruch arrived in Thailand on December 17 under the Test & Go scheme and escaped from a hotel in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit area while awaiting his RT-PCR test result.
The screening staff revealed that Baruch was infected with the Covid-19.
The court subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Baruch and he was caught later at a restaurant on Samui for violating the communicable disease control act.
Public Health officials took him to Koh Samui Hospital for a late-night Covid-19 test. But the result revealed that it was negative and he was not infected with Covid-19.
However, Suphakit Sirilak, director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, confirmed on Thursday that Baruch was infected with Covid-19.
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The sample on December 17 was sent to his department on December 18 and confirmed that he was infected with the Omicron variant.
Suphakit said the reason why the test result on Koh Samui was negative was that Baruch might have nearly recovered.
He added that the sample was sent to the department’s lab in Surat Thani on Thursday for confirmation.
Here’s the timeline of Baruch’s recent movements:
- December 17 - Entered Thailand under the Test & Go scheme. Waited at his hotel in Sukhumvit area for his Covid-19 test result.
- December 18 – Left his hotel and returned a while later, claiming he visited his friend in hospital near Soi Phetchaburi 47.
- 2pm – Left the hotel again and called a taxi to Pattaya without showing his passport. He travelled in the area there before returning to Bangkok.
- December 19 - Rented a van to the southern provinces.
- December 20 - Went to Chumphon en route to Koh Samui.
- December 22 - Caught on Koh Samui.
He was later confirmed to have been infected with the Omicron variant, not Delta, as reported at first.
Police will charge him with violating the communicable disease control act.
