TheCowboy

Complicated!

Is that code for something?

Aside from your disapproval, is there supposed to be some kind of downside to this?

Commentary on flaws in this non-peer-reviewed study. In particular, because early action (China, Australia, etc.) doesn't reduce non-existent deaths, it isn't counted as effective. https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-preprint-looking-at-the-impact-of-lockdowns-as-posted-on-the-john-hopkins-krieger-school-of-arts-and-sciences-website/

The person who writes these headlines is doing Thailand a great disservice. As the article points out, Covid is "sweeping the US and Europe with record numbers," Thai hospitals are "bracing for worse days to come," and Omicron payouts are "overstretching" insurance companies. The government has changed its arrival policy in response to new information and new circumstances since Test & Go was originally devised -- in particular, that fully vaccinated travelers may be infected, and infections may be missed because of smaller testing windows. Tourists have changed their plans because holiday travelers usually have shorter vacation times. Any "panic" reflects the writer's own opinions about Thailand's Covid policy, and not the facts nor responses to them.

I think it's that the OP / "news team" is employed by the site host to write a weekly "Thailand News Review," and is probably either paid by the word, or is simply encouraged to say as many provocative things as possible in order to attract SEOs and advertising. Perhaps the OP can add to or correct this impression?

Great, thank you for not joining my gym. My experience has been 100% that the occasional unmasked person at my gym will mask up if asked politely, while also pointing out that a) it's a posted requirement of this and all other fitness centers in Thailand, and b) at my age there's no up-side to losing that extra margin of safety. Full staff support too, I'd add -- they did not enjoy being out of work for the months that gyms were closed down here.

Great, thanks! For your consideration: a line showing seven day moving average of the daily PCR+ATK total?

Sorry if I'm being dumb here -- are you getting the data then making the PCR+ATK bar graph yourself? I can't find it on the MOPH site.

Bkk Brian, can you please clarify the source of the very helpful two-tone green bar chart of PCR and ATK totals? Thanks.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00451-5/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1473-3099(21)00451-5 (pdf link) Table 1 shows that the expected number of unrelated "background" cases during an equivalent period in 2020 was about 26+/-3 per 100,000. The inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) is believed to have caused be associated with an additional 4.8 cases per 100,000, while the mRNA (Pfizer) have caused is thought to be associated with additional 2 cases per 100,000. In other words, for every person who is affected by the vaccine, 5-10 times as many people will coincidentally develop Bell's Palsy for reasons having nothing to do with vaccination. The effect size is very small. It is also important to note that the investigation compared two different vaccine technologies for which data were readily available -- Sinovac (inactivated virus) and Pfizer (mRNA) It did not compare Sinovac or Pfizer against other vaccines of the same types. Other vaccines use the same inactivated virus tech as Sinovac (for rabies, influenza, Hep A, etc.), and possible increased incidence of Bell's Palsy for these diseases and vaccines have been investigated elsewhere.