Bkk Brian

Government schools in Phuket have not done so well, many still operating on alternate days, its mainly the International Schools that have been open fully. That said all schools here were closed for long periods of time last year. However I note in a separate OP that you were fine with your school closure as it gives you more free time.

Ditto on that. I'm in the same position, daughters school due back wed, is they decide to close that while keeping bars, restaurants and venues open here in Phuket then it shows their utter lack of any sense of logic, let alone the needs of the kids and older students who are critical levels in their education for progression into Uni.

No one study can ever be definitive and I don't see anyone suggesting that. Whether a study is carried out in the cohorts country is neither here nor there. A meta analysis study for instance which happens to be one of the better credible ones combines a large number of studies together generally from different countires but focusing on the same questions. The posted study however is not to be ignored because of its limitations, all studies have limitations. Only misguided gamblers will wait for further studies before action.

Here is the IHME model on the true number of infections in Thailand. It last updated on the 13th Dec. Its mean average case count then was 31,185. Going by its trajectory it will be far higher now. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-models#institute-for-health-metrics-and-evaluation-ihme

Here we go, what are they shutting schools for if the numbers are so low? About time the government makes a public announcement instead of ducking this serious threat to all sectors. "Thai News Reports: The Governor of Khon Kaen has signed the order to close all schools at all levels from now until 14th January. Children's Day on 8th January has also been cancelled. In addition, the private sector are requested to work from home #Thailand" https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1477797441214697472

Thailand now one of the few countries in the world that does nor have a daily covid dashboard updating its statistics on tests, atk etc PCR test positive cases, total of 2.927 official new infections. 18 official covid deaths recorded. Rapid tests dashboard has still not been updated https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/ Rolling 7 day average chart (up to 1st Jan) https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

No background to this but a tweet just now from an ICU doctor in the US. A reminder for the its just a cold crowd. Before I intubated another terrified younger COVID patient this evening I told her… ‘You are currently surrounded by the best humans I know. You couldn’t be in a safer place.’ https://twitter.com/GrahamCarlos/status/1477438709255573508

In addition its only because of number counting that statistics on how mild or not can be derived.

Surprising you said you don't know the difference between mrna vaccines and the many others which are not yet you do know about this one and have so much faith in its success that you're holding out for it.

Amen to that. I suspect your right, we will all face it at some point and all of us hope we will come through it ok. A small minority will not, i hope to not be one of those

non mrna, I thought that was obvious but obviously not to you.

Your data point is noted, however I cannot study that as its not published with peer review anywhere

Well its scientifically proven right back to the original strain that its transmissible by inhalation of air carrying very small fine droplets and aerosol particles. The question is how much more Omicron is than others.

Another baiting post I suspect, but if we look at factual evidence through scientific studies the mrna vaccines are more effective for any strain of covid. That cannot be disputed by anyone. AZ not too far behind. An outliner. apparently Johnson and Johnson worked well in South Africa though which is good news: Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Demonstrates 85 Percent Effectiveness against Hospitalization in South Africa when Omicron was Dominant

Also not so good if you're not retired and work in an industry that relies on tourism and expats coming over for long stays. In my case not so good because of school for my daughter as its bound to be closed again soon. They are back on Wed from the xmas holidays but with Omicron now in Phuket how long that will last is questionable.

ooops, not just Pattaya Omicron in Patong: 11 cases confirmed on Soi Bangla PHUKET: Proactive screening has identified 11 Thai women working in the Soi Bangla area of Patong as infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19. https://www.thephuketnews.com/omicron-in-patong-11-cases-confirmed-on-soi-bangla-82578.php

Plenty of studies issued already on Omicron, probably more is such a short space of time than any other variant in the same time span. However I agree with your last sentence> "Only misguided gamblers will wait for studies before action."

Sinovac dose, Pfizer booster dose is less effective against Omicron NEW YORK: A two-dose injection of Sinovac-type COVID-19 vaccine followed by a booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech showed a lower immune response against Omicron, compared to other variants. The study was conducted by a group of researchers from Yale University, the Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic as well as several other institutions. 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/

I certainly do not dispute it could be more airborne than delta but as I said there is no evidence provided by a study to confirm that as yet. What has been evidenced so far is that it takes a much smaller viral load to get infected because of its duplication in your air track. Months ago, the spread of Delta was reported by the U.S. CDC to be more like chickenpox (varicella) virus in terms of airborne spread (droplet nuclei). Is Omicron even more airborne, moving it closer toward somewhere between chickenpox and measles virus? How long can Omicron stay suspended in the air compared with Delta or Alpha or the original virus found in 2019 in Wuhan or the early 2020 D614G virus?

Pattaya and Banglamung cases rise, 81 percent of recently randomly tested infections are Omicron in the area says Chonburi’s top doctor The Chonburi Provincial Public Health Deputy Director Doctor Wichai Tanasophon spoke with the associated Thai press this morning, January 2nd, 2022, regarding rapidly rising Covid-19 numbers in Banglamung and Pattaya and stated the following: “Many confirmed Covid -19 cases were found in Banglamung recently. Since December 22nd the infection rate has rapidly increased and continues to increase.” https://thepattayanews.com/2022/01/02/pattaya-and-banglamung-cases-rise-81-percent-of-recently-randomly-tested-infections-are-omicron-in-the-area-says-chonburis-top-doctor/