Bkk Brian

According to the reports a few days ago, Omicron was making up around 75% of all cases in Thailand so probably more now. However according to UK statistics the average lag between infection and death is 16-18 days Not sure about ICU or Ventilated.

Correlates well with findings of a hazard ratio of 0.76 for unvaccinated hosp with Omicron vs unvaccinated hosp with Delta from this UK analysis: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2021-12-22-COVID19-Report-50.pdf

I'm surprised Anutin's not latched onto this nice little earner yet: Cannabis Compounds Prevented Covid Infection in Laboratory Study Cannabis compounds prevented the virus that causes Covid-19 from penetrating healthy human cells, according to a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products. The two compounds commonly found in hemp -- called cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, or CBDA -- were identified during a chemical screening effort as having potential to combat coronavirus, researchers from Oregon State University said. In the study, they bound to spike proteins found on the virus and blocked a step the pathogen uses to infect people. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-12/cannabis-compounds-prevented-covid-infection-in-laboratory-study

My reading comprehension is fine thanks, the South Africa study also compares to Delta and other variants however it takes into account previous immunity. Understand? Your bottom line, I hope so too

Just one of the problems with this being that any infected person should be in isolation....... Thai man seeks COVID-positive escort to get infected deliberately An online job listing has gone viral in Thailand this week. It features a man seeking to hire a social companion, who has tested positive for COVID-19, in a deliberate attempt to get infected. The listing, apparently written by a broker, indicated that the client is offering ฿3,000 to ฿5,000 to a suitably qualified drinking companion. “COVID-positive only. The client wants to catch the coronavirus,” read the listing. https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-man-seeks-covid-positive-escort-to-get-infected-deliberately/

Latest ICU and Ventilated cases https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/

Testament to how well vaccinations are protecting people, hardly a cat out of the bag moment. The study I linked to however was specifically based on the adjustment of vaccinations and prior infections so giving a truer picture of the Omicron virulence as a stand alone virus without previous immunity protection.

"The 1st study ... to demonstrate less severe disease in wave four [Omicron] after adjusting for both vaccination and prior diagnosed infection." "Our data suggests that severe outcomes could be reduced by approximately 25% due to intrinsically reduced virulence of Omicron." "South African study of 16,753 people controls for the effects of vaccine and prior infection to find: - Omicron only about 25% less intrinsically fatal then Delta. - Most of the reduction in fatality was due to vaccination and prior infection." Pre print https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.12.22269148v1

PCR test positive cases, total of 8,176 official new infections. 14 official covid deaths recorded. Rapid tests positive cases, 1,789 bringing the total of PCR and ATK results to 9,956 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/ Rolling 7 day average chart (up to 11th Jan) https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

WHO says 43,000 deaths have been reported to them so far that are attributed to Omicron (worldwide). This in context to the number of cases reported is low compared to previous variants. ”however the narrative that it’s a common cold or mild is not true” https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1481254500161794050

I'll go with the data from Yale University study and the Hong Kong Study: According to the study again, a two-dose injection of Sinovac followed by an injection of a Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose only produced antibodies similar to two doses of Ribonucleic Acid or mRNA Messenger type vaccine. The antibody level to Omicron was 6.3 times lower when compared to the original variant and 2.7 times lower when compared to Delta. One of the researchers, Akiko Iwasaki, said in a tweet on Twitter that the CoronaVac vaccine recipients may need two more booster doses to achieve a level of protection against Omicron. https://asianewstoday.com/sinovac-dose-pfizer-booster-dose-is-less-effective-against-omicron/ Or from Edinburgh University: “The good news is that whether you had AZ or Pfizer as your first two doses and whether you have Pfizer or Moderna as your booster, there is a marked increase in both your neutralising antibody concentration (on average a more than 20-fold increase) and your T cell response (on average an approximately 3 fold boost) against both the original Wuhan virus and against the Delta variant. https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-cov-boost-study-investigating-safety-and-immunogenicity-of-seven-covid-19-vaccines-as-a-third-dose-following-two-doses-of-either-oxford-astrazeneca-or-pfizer/

Correct as stated by the experts. The Omicron replicates far quicker in the throat in the first 3 days of infection and so a throat swab or saliva is the best method for ATK. The PCR test may be showing a false positive as its far more sensitive and can pick up old virus particles but this does not mean you are infectious.

Brit bashing at its finest from him, nothing surprising despite this being about Thailand and not the UK

CORONAVIRUS/Thailand becomes 5th country to recognize Medigen COVID-19 vaccine Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) Thailand has become the fifth country in the world to recognize the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Taiwan-based Medigen Vaccine Biologics, according to a list released by Thailand's government on Monday. The Medigen vaccine was added to a list of eight previously recognized vaccines that will enable travelers to visit Thailand under its new tourism sandbox plan, according to the Thailand foreign ministry's Department of Consular Affairs. https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202201110009

Half of Chon Buri’s new Covid-19 cases today reported in Pattaya and Bang Saen According to the Chon Buri Provincial Public Health Office, the areas with the highest number of cases and clusters are Three Town Might Market and Soi Bua Khao, which are both in Pattaya. Clusters have also been reported among those who went to restaurants selling alcohol along Bang Saen Beach and Wonnapha Beach in Chon Buri’s Mueang district. https://thethaiger.com/news/pattaya/half-of-chon-buris-new-covid-19-cases-today-reported-in-pattaya-and-bang-saen

Agreed, as we can see from real world studies and statistics, Pfizer, Moderna, AZ etc have provided good protection from serious illness, admission to ICU and death from covid. A booster has provided even better protection. Its the non vaccinated who are dying and clogging up the ICU's

Repeated Covid Boosters Not A Viable Strategy: WHO WHO experts warned Tuesday that repeating booster doses of the original Covid vaccines is not a viable strategy against emerging variants and called for new jabs that better protect against transmission. An expert group created by the World Health Organization to assess the performance of Covid-19 vaccines said simply providing fresh jabs of existing Covid vaccines as new strains of the virus emerge was not the best way to fight the pandemic. "A vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable," the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-Co-VAC) said in a statement. https://www.barrons.com/news/who-experts-say-repeated-covid-boosters-not-a-viable-strategy-01641913207?refsec=afp-news

PCR test positive cases, total of 7,681 official new infections. 22 official covid deaths recorded. Rapid tests positive cases, 2,048 bringing the total of PCR and ATK results to 9,729 https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/ Rolling 7 day average chart (up to 10th Jan) https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

Exactly and they are only being delivered at 1 million a week. They said yesterday that they are not going to be doing mass PCR testing anymore due to cost and instead relying on ATK (great for keeping official count down). Well for that to happen they need to get a lot more now not later.

Agree, this is to an extent a walk into the unknown for all experts, she was not making predictions just explaining what endemic actually means, lets face it, Omicron did not evolve from Delta or Alpha, its linage came before that so many unknowns yet.

Going from what I've read, a country declaring an infectious disease endemic is a decision based on their level of acceptance to the impact of it on society, ie deaths, severe illness and the health service. So yes it has to be at a low enough level for those aspects to be taken into account. Flu is endemic but a lot of work goes on behind the scenes by public health depts for vaccinations and preparing for particularly bad strains that can come. Thailand would need to be constantly monitoring the level of infection for covid to remain low enough to be endemic, not something I trust them doing so much due to their poor testing even when their is a full blown outbreak. Anyway I do recommend this twitter thread by an epidemiologist and assistant professor from Boston Public Health on the complexities of classifying covid endemic what it means and what needs to be done to keep it that way. Well worth a read of the full string of tweets: "Everyone keeps talking about covid becoming endemic, but as I listen to the conversation, it’s becoming more & more clear to me that very few of you know what “endemic” means. So here’s a thread on how pandemics end. https://twitter.com/EpiEllie/status/1444088804961304581

COVID-19 leading many Thais into stress, depression, burnout or suicidal thoughts Many Thai people are suffering from stress, depression, burnout or are at risk of committing suicide as a result of the two-year long COVID-19 pandemic. Director-general of the Department of Mental Health Amporn Benjaponpitak said today (Tuesday) that the department conducted an online survey and assessment of the mental health of more than 2.5 million people, via the www.วัดใจ.com or Mental Health Check-in systems. https://www.thaipbsworld.com/covid-19-leading-many-thais-into-stress-depression-burnout-or-suicidal-thoughts/

Not at all crazy, imo Thailand just needs to ensure the hospitals/health system does not get overwhelmed. If they can get through that period when Omicron is at its most prevalent then looking to add Omicron/covid as endemic is something most countries are planning I think. The UK in a sense let it rip through London with minimal measures, nothing like the restrictions we have here and they are on the other side already. Not saying we should just let it rip here as too many unknowns yet but trying to slow it is useless.

Don’t know which variant? Here are the symptoms that indicate which Covid variant you are infected with. https://twitter.com/NBTWORLDNews/status/1480713570480500738 Or from the Zoe app in the UK which has millions of daily users, symptoms for Omicron are: Runny nose Headache Fatigue (mild or severe) Sneezing Sore throat While Omicron may feel more like a cold to many of us, it can still hospitalize and ultimately, kill and leave people suffering with long-term symptoms that disrupt their day-to-day lives.

That was clarified yesterday, from abroad means anyone testing positive within 10 days of arrival. So in practice you can arrive in Sandbox or test and go, have your arrival PCR test negative, travel freely throughout Phuket daily, then if you test positive on the 7th day you are still classified as "abroad" when in all likelihood you caught it locally.