Multiple clades of SARS-CoV-2 were introduced to Thailand during the first quarter of 2020.

Early in January 2020, Thailand became the first country where a Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) patient was identified outside China. In this study, 23 whole genomes of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from patients who were hospitalized during January to March 2020 were analyzed, along with their travel histories. Six lineages were identified including A, A6, B, B.1, B.1.8 and B.58; lineage A.6 was dominant. Seven patients were from China who travelled to Thailand in January and early of February, five of them were infected with B lineage virus, the other two cases were infected with different lineages including A and A.6. These findings represent clear evidence of the early introduction of diverse SARS-CoV-2 clades in Thailand. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.