TallGuyJohninBKK

Some glimmer of hope on the horizon, maybe.... "Atthawit noted that AOT has recommended starting with a scheduled service from Phuket airport to Khao Lak in Phang Nga province to gauge the effectiveness of these connections. "

There also was recent research out of Singapore indicating that the current XBB COVID vaccines continue to provide decent protection against the more recent JN.1 COVID variant, although the older bivalent and earlier COVID vaccines did not: XBB booster offers protection against JN.1 infections, hospital cases, new data show June 29, 2024 "A new study in Clinical Infectious Diseases looks at outcomes among more than 3 million adult Singaporeans who received the XBB booster amid JN.1 virus circulation and finds protection against both infection and serious outcomes. ... Lower risk of all negative outcomes An XBB booster [8-120 days prior] was associated with a 41% reduced risk of JN.1 infection (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.59). COVID-19–associated ED visits were reduced 50% among those with XBB boosters (aHR, 0.50), while hospitalizations were 42% lower (aHR, 0.58). There was no statistically significant reduction of risk for JN.1 infections, ED visits, or hospitalizations in people vaccinated with a bivalent booster within 8 to 365 days after the shot." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/xbb-booster-offers-protection-against-jn1-infections-hospital-cases-new-data-show "Compared with individuals last boosted ≥1 year prior with ancestral monovalent vaccines, receipt of an updated XBB.1.5 booster 8-120 days prior was associated with lower risk of JN.1 infection (adjusted-hazard-ratio, aHR = 0.59 [0.52-0.66]), COVID-19 associated ED-visits (aHR = 0.50[0.34-0.73]) and hospitalizations (aHR = 0.58 [0.37-0.91]), while receipt of a bivalent booster 121-365 days prior was associated with lower risk of JN.1 infection (aHR = 0.92[0.88-0.95]) and ED-visits (aHR = 0.80[0.70-0.90]). Lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalization during the JN.1 outbreak (aHR = 0.57[0.33-0.97]) was still observed following receipt of an updated XBB.1.5 booster 8-120 days prior, even when analysis was restricted to previously infected individuals. Conclusion Recent receipt of updated boosters conferred protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and ED-visits/hospitalization during a JN.1 variant wave, in both previously infected and uninfected individuals. Annual booster doses confer protection during COVID-19 endemicity." https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cid/ciae339/7699692 Note: when studies like this cite figures for "aHR" meaning adjusted hazard ratio, that means the level of reduced risk is the inverse number. For example, an aHR of 0.59 translates into a 41% reduction in risk. "For example, a scientific paper might use an HR to state something such as: "Adequate COVID-19 vaccination status was associated with significantly decreased risk for the composite of severe COVID-19 or mortality with a[n] HR of 0.20 (95% CI, 0.17–0.22)."[1] In essence, the hazard for the composite outcome was 80% lower among the vaccinated relative to those who were unvaccinated in the same study. So, for a hazardous outcome (e.g., severe disease or death), an HR below 1 indicates that the treatment (e.g., vaccination) is protective against the outcome of interest." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_ratio

Current Epidemic Growth Status "As of July 02, 2024, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 39 states and territories, declining or likely declining in 0 states and territories, and are stable or uncertain in 10 states and territories." https://www.cdc.gov/forecast-outbreak-analytics/about/rt-estimates.html

CDC update thru July 5, 2024: "COVID-19 Some areas of the country are experiencing consistent increases in COVID-19 activity, including increases in COVID-19 test positivity and emergency department visits and increases in rates of COVID-19–associated hospitalizations among adults 65+ at several sites. However, nationally COVID-19 activity remains low. Recent increases in activity level are from very low levels in April and May 2024, when they were lower than at any time since March 2020. CDC will continue to closely monitor trends in COVID-19 activity." https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/snapshot.html Posted July 8: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home Good news and bad news regarding COVID deaths in the U.S. They're at their lowest level of the pandemic as of the latest full update thru June 8, but that still means nearly 300 people per week continue to die from COVID weekly in the U.S., with COVID as either the primary or contributing cause as reported on their death certificates. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00 Source: Provisional Deaths from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Provisional data are non-final counts of deaths based on the flow of mortality data in NVSS. Deaths include those with COVID-19, coded to ICD–10 code U07.1, as an underlying or contributing cause of death on the death certificate. Death data are displayed by date of death (event). ... Data during recent periods are incomplete because of the lag in time between when a death occurs and when a death certificate is completed, submitted to NCHS, and processed for reporting. This delay can range from 1 week to 8 weeks or more, depending on the jurisdiction. The most recent 3 weeks of mortality counts are shaded grey and mortality rates shown as dotted lines because NVSS reporting is <95% during this period.

Vaccinations: "Overall, 63.0% of all people aged 75 years and over in England had been vaccinated with a spring 2024 booster dose since 15 April 2024." ... "By the end of week 26 2024, (week ending 30 June 2024), 63.0% (3,367,253 out of 5,835,879) of all people aged 75 years and over who are living and resident in England had received a vaccine dose in the spring 2024 campaign (Figure 5)." Poster's Note: the age 75 and older population was the target population eligible for government-provided COVID vaccinations for the spring 2024 government vaccinations campaign. Younger people were not eligible for the government-provided COVID vaccinations, but could purchase them thru private pharmacies in England. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6686a730d9d35187868f44ad/weekly-flu-and-COVID-19-report-week-27.pdf

Weekly COVID Cases and Deaths update thru late June: Deaths data for deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate in England Up to and including 21 June 2024 Date -- Amount 21 Jun 2024 -- 143 14 Jun 2024 -- 146 7 Jun 2024 -- 139 31 May 2024 -- 110 24 May 2024 -- 146 17 May 2024 -- 168 10 May 2024 -- 93 3 May 2024 -- 103 26 Apr 2024 -- 118 19 Apr 2024 -- 116 12 Apr 2024 -- 108 5 Apr 2024 -- 107 29 Mar 2024 -- 110 22 Mar 2024 -- 138 15 Mar 2024 -- 122 8 Mar 2024 -- 168 1 Mar 2024 -- 195 23 Feb 2024 -- 226 16 Feb 2024 -- 255 9 Feb 2024 -- 316 2 Feb 2024 -- 331 26 Jan 2024 -- 341 19 Jan 2024 -- 374 12 Jan 2024 -- 376 5 Jan 2024 -- 292 https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/topics/covid-19?areaType=Nation

This summer's COVID surge is Taiwan keeps getting worse. As per the last three COVID reports there, weekly COVID deaths have gone from 40 to 64 (as reported above) to now 99 for the latest weekly report: Taiwan reports 99 COVID deaths over past week 987 new severe COVID cases reported from July 2-7, a 6% increase from last week Jul. 9, 2024 "TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday (July 9) reported 99 deaths from COVID, a 54.68% increase from the previous week. There were also 987 new severe COVID cases from July 2 - 8, a 5.9% increase from last week. Individuals aged 65 and above account for 79% of the severe cases and 90% of the deaths. ... The CDC said the domestic COVID outbreak is worsening, is in the epidemic phase, and could plateau in mid-July. The JN. 1 variant is the most prevalent, both domestically and from overseas, accounting for 38% and 39% of cases, respectively. (more) https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/5899674 Taiwan has only about one-third of the population of Thailand at about 24 million people, but also is considered one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Taiwan is ranked 18th in the world by population density, while Thailand is ranked 92nd. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density

Boeing will plead guilty to fraud related to fatal 737 Max crashes Survivors of crash victims have criticized pending agreement with the Justice Department as a “sweetheart deal.” July 8, 2024 "Boeing agreed on Sunday to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the government in a case linked to crashes of its 737 Max jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people — a stunning turn for the aerospace giant after the Justice Department determined that Boeing failed to live up to terms of a 2021 deal to avoid prosecution. Prosecutors alleged that two Boeing pilots concealed key information from the Federal Aviation Administration about a new automated control system on the Max. The system was implicated in both crashes, causing uncontrollable dives. By agreeing to plead guilty to the single felony count just before a midnight deadline Sunday, the company will avoid going to trial in the high-profile case. (more) Washington Post https://archive.ph/STbQh

We try to be pretty careful about keeping mosquitos out of the interior of our home, and have screens on all the windows. But when one/some manage to sneak in somehow, I've long used the rechargeable tennis paddle type mosquito "bats" to get rid of them. They work quite well for us, and can be bought cheaply at Big Cs in particular, usually in the range of 69 to 199b per piece for the larger 9 inch-diameter kind. Experience tells, the mozzies typically like to land eventually on soft surfaces like drapes, upholstry, fabrics and the like. So when I find we have some indoors, I simply make a habit of brushing over those kinds of surfaces with the mosquito bat while turned on, which of course "sparks" every time it encounters and zaps one of them. I also can walk around the indoors area of the room waving the bat in a sweeping direction back and forth, which will tend to catch any that happen to be flying around me. That usually rids the indoors of any within a day or so. PS - Eucalyptus spray is also good from keeping them away from you, either by spraying in the room or spraying some on your exposed skin areas. No chemicals involved in doing that.

There's also been recent research that shows the current XBB variant vaccines -- until the new versions become available this fall -- are still helpful against the newer circulating COVID strains, albeit at reduced levels of effectiveness. See the following: COVID Shots Could Use Another Update, Study Suggests Latest vaccines mostly kept up with circulating strains, but dipped against JN.1 May 29, 2024 ... for those vaccinated between Oct. 26, 2023 and Feb. 10, 2024 -- when the JN.1 variant was dominant -- vaccine effectiveness against infection was 44.3% after week 4 and decreased to 17.4% after week 10. ... Among those vaccinated after the JN.1 variant became dominant, effectiveness against hospitalization was 60.1% after week 4 and effectiveness against death was 59.8% after week 4, and both steadily decreased over time. "It would be worthwhile to develop and deploy new vaccines targeting JN.1 or future strains," the authors wrote. MedPage Today https://archive.ph/G7c1d

That's why we have the following: As Covid cases rise, CDC recommends new version of vaccine The updated Covid vaccines should become available for people ages 6 months and older in August and September. June 28, 2024 On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended new shots for all Americans this fall. ... A vaccine by Novavax will target JN.1, the variant that prevailed for months in the winter and spring. The shots to be made by Pfizer and Moderna are aimed at KP.2, which until recently seemed poised to be the dominant variant. But KP.2 appears to be giving way to two related variants, KP.3 and LB.1, which now account for more than half of new cases. All three variants, descendants of JN.1, are together nicknamed FLiRT, after two mutations in the virus’s genes that contain those letters. (more) https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-cases-rise-cdc-panel-recommends-updated-vaccine-fall-rcna159349 Just like there are new, updated versions of the flu vaccine done and needed every year to keep up with new variants, there are going to be new versions of the COVID vaccine needed -- at least as long as the virus continues to circulate and remain a health risk.

But based on the OP report, it sounds like we'll all have 6 months or more before we ultimately find out what if any new long-haul bus routes they're actually going to start running...

AFAIK, the BMTA is still operating their long-running A1 express bus service that runs between DM Airport and Victory Monument, with stops along the way including Mochit BTS. My wife, who takes it relatively often, says the one-way fare is about 30 baht. Also, the existing Roong Reuang company VIP bus service between Suvarnabhumi and Hua Hin is quite good, reliable and has frequent departures... Ticket price about 350b plus a small processing fee if bought in advance online. Last time I checked, some part of the Thai government, AOT I think, was still running a shuttle bus service connecting DM and Suvarnabhumi airports, free if you show an airport boarding pass, as I recall. Speaking personally, having lived here for many years and seen too many bus crash news reports, I tend to shy away from long-haul bus services operated by the venerable Transport Company, especially those traveling at night.

COVID-19: A look back on where the US succeeded and where we didn’t March 19, 2023 ... Speedy rollout of the vaccines Experts agree that the development and rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines is one of the country's biggest successes. ... The majority of vaccines, from the first steps of academic research to arriving on the market, generally take 10 or more years to be available, experts said. However, researchers were able to perform several steps usually performed in a linear fashion simultaneously, allowing companies to obtain U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization and scale up production without lessening vaccine safety requirements. "It really unlocked a new sort of a new era of vaccine," said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor. "We've recognized that we can develop and deploy a vaccine in actually reasonably fast pace from identification of a new virus to actual first prototype." (more) https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-19-back-us-succeeded-didnt/story?id=97577267

Unsubstantiated claim!

Lots of research on the above point, previously posted here in this subforum many times, including: COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say Nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year, but even more deaths could have been prevented if international targets for the shots had been reached, researchers reported Thursday. https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5 Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion, 3 million lives December 14, 2022 A Commonwealth Fund study estimates that, through November 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented more than 18.5 million US hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths and saved the country $1.15 trillion. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives

Spike in deaths in Australia from COVID illnesses, not vaccine Associated Press March 18, 2023 CLAIM: Australia is seeing its sharpest rise in deaths in 80 years because of the coronavirus vaccine. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. While a recent analysis found that the country saw a higher than expected number of deaths in 2022, it also concluded coronavirus vaccines weren’t the cause. Government officials and experts in Australia concur, saying the rise in deaths is largely the result of COVID-19 infections, not vaccine-related deaths. ... Jason Donohoe, a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care, concurred, adding that the agency’s ongoing review of the vaccine has so far found that the inoculation led to death only in “extremely rare cases.” Most deaths after vaccination, he said, were caused by an underlying disease or condition. “There’s no credible evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines have contributed to excess deaths,” Donohoe wrote in an email. " https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-covid-coronavirus-vaccine-australia-125014733236

Results like these: Assessing the Influence of COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage on Excess Mortality across 178 Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study 28 July 2023 "This study aimed to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination coverage and all-cause excess mortality in 178 nations during the first two years of the pandemic. Multiple regression analysis, after adjusting for life expectancy at birth, confirmed a significant association between higher vaccination coverage and lower all-cause mortality rates. ... These findings underscore the importance of vaccination campaigns in reducing overall mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic." https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/11/8/1294

And a study from Denmark involving heart failure patients: Risk of Worsening Heart Failure and All-Cause Mortality Following COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Heart Failure: A Nationwide Real-World Safety Study 28 July 2023 ... Conclusions This study found that the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination was not associated with an increased risk of worsening heart failure, myocarditis, venous thromboembolism, or all-cause mortality. This suggests there should be no concern regarding the use of the mRNA vaccine in patients with heart failure in relation to the risk of cardiovascular side effects. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.123.010617

Vaccine Victory: How COVID-19 shots slash all-cause mortality and outshine misinformation 12 February 2024 The accumulation of evidence solidly affirms that COVID-19 vaccines not only directly save lives by preventing virus-specific deaths but also play a crucial role in reducing all-cause mortality among vaccinated populations. While claims about COVID-19 vaccines being associated with increased mortality have circulated, they are often based on misinterpretation of data, anecdotal evidence, or preliminary research that does not stand up to rigorous scientific scrutiny. The consensus among health authorities and scientific community is that COVID-19 vaccines are a critical tool in reducing mortality and severe illness from the virus, with the benefits significantly outweighing the risks. https://www.globalvaccinedatanetwork.org/blog/Vaccine_Victory_How_COVID-19_shots_slash_all-cause_mortality_and_outshine_misinformation

The data cited in your OP study is similarly dated, even though their report publication is more recent. From the OP cited study (if you download the full PDF document from the weblink provided in the OP): " The population considered is that of residents or those domiciled in the province of Pescara on 1 January 2021, aged 10 years and older, without a positive SARS-CoV-2 swab at the date of the follow-up start. Vaccination data were acquired from the official regional SARS-CoV-2 vaccination dataset, up to 31 December 2022. The follow-up considered ranges between 1 January 2021 and 15 February 2023."

An obscure study led by an Italian anti-vaxer who has trafficked in COVID conspiracy theories (as with his reported comments re the proposed WHO pandemic treaty below), and whose findings here about one italian province have been contradicted by numerous other broader more substantial research studies. Re author Donzelli and his group Fondazione Centro Studi Allineare Sanità e Salute: From the cited study: Alberto Donzelli 4,* 4 Independent Medical-Scientific Commission, Foundation “Allineare Sanità e Salute”, Milan 20131, Italy *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. "The Italian government, in the meantime, as announced to the microphones of Borgonovo by Dr. Donzelli, president of the Allineare Sanità e Salute foundation and member of the independent medical and scientific commission, has set aside the chilling old draft of the pandemic plan to prepare to draw up a new one . On the risks deriving from the pandemic treaty proposed by the WHO, Donzelli warns live: "The new powers of the WHO would make it possible to impose, through mandatory vaccination certificates to be able to move, digital certificates containing the vaccination status, the possibility of blocking movements to people who do not comply with international vaccination provisions which instead must be much discussed on the merits of each of these vaccines" https://www-radioradio-it.translate.goog/2024/03/oms-trattato-pandemico-tedros-alberto-donzelli-covid/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en And re research on the general issues / claims raised in the OP study: "Jeffrey Morris, a biostatistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine told AAP FactCheck in May 2023 that one way to test claims vaccines caused large numbers of deaths was to compare non-COVID mortality rates between people who have and haven’t had the jab. Professor Morris said credible studies comparing the two groups found mortality was the same or lower among people who had the jab, indicating vaccines did not significantly increase the risk of death, as seen here and here." [emphasis added] https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/data-debunks-wild-claim-of-one-billion-deaths/ A safety study evaluating non-COVID-19 mortality risk following COVID-19 vaccination 16 January 2023 Highlights • Non-COVID-19 mortality rates were lower among COVID-19 vaccinees in the US. • Adjusted hazard ratios comparing COVID-19 vaccinees and comparators were below 1. • No increased risk was found for non-COVID-19 mortality after COVID-19 vaccination. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X22015614?via%3Dihub Effect of COVID-19 vaccination on mortality by COVID-19 and on mortality by other causes, the Netherlands, January 2021–January 2022 12 July 2023 COVID-19 vaccination was highly effective against COVID-19 mortality. • This effectiveness declines with time since vaccination. • Risk of death from causes other than COVID-19 was not increased in the 5–8 weeks after a first, second or booster dose. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X23006606?via%3Dihub European mortality data do not support link between higher COVID-19 vaccination rates and excess deaths October 7, 2022 https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-gbnews-excessdeaths-idUSL1N3180Q7/

1. The vast majority of major medical and public health organizations around the world continue to support and endorse COVID vaccines as the best, safest method of protecting against the disease. Despite that, there remains a vocal minority of health professionals -- generally from fields not specific to COVID or infectious diseases -- who continue to promote COVID and vaccine misinformation. ICMRA statement on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities ICMRA brings together 38 medicines regulatory authorities from every region in the world... "ICMRA strongly supports the safety of COVID-19 vaccines and their benefits in protecting people of all ages from the severe consequences of COVID-19." https://icmra.info/drupal/strategicinitiatives/vaccines/safety_statement Report spotlights 52 US doctors who posted potentially harmful COVID misinformation online "The authors said that while medical misinformation was spread long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the internet boosts the reach and speed of dissemination, potentially exacerbating the consequences. They noted that about a third of the more than 1.1 million reported COVID-19 deaths in the United States as of January 18, 2023, were considered preventable if public health recommendations such as vaccination and physical distancing had been followed." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-spotlights-52-us-doctors-who-posted-potentially-harmful-covid-misinformation-online 2. The main COVID vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, including the versions currently in use, have full approval from regulators in the U.S. and many other countries. In the U.S. by way of example, those full approvals followed the initial Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) given at the beginning of the pandemic. The primary COVID vaccines underwent the normal testing and clinical trials process as with other vaccines leading to their full regulatory approval. FDA Takes Action on Updated mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants September 11, 2023 https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-action-updated-mrna-covid-19-vaccines-better-protect-against-currently-circulating There are FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. as of May 2023 "FDA press releases, which are publicly available online, show that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was approved for people over 16 on 23 August 2021. It was later approved for individuals between the ages of 12 and 15 on 8 July 2022. The FDA also approved the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for individuals over 18 on 31 January 2022. ... In summary, two COVID-19 vaccines are FDA-approved: the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for people aged 12 or older and the Moderna vaccine for people aged 18 or older. Claims stating the opposite are therefore false. These vaccines and others are also authorized for use in other age groups or as booster shots under EUA. It is important to note that EUAs still require clinical trials demonstrating the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. Vaccines authorized under EUAs thus aren’t experimental." https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/there-are-fda-approved-covid-19-vaccines-in-the-u-s-as-of-may-2023-contrary-to-claim-by-peter-mccullough/ COVID-19 mRNA vaccines were tested in clinical trials, aren’t experimental "COVID-19 mRNA vaccines went through multiple stages of clinical testing to ensure their safety and effectiveness. As they’ve already cleared clinical trials, they’re no longer experimental. The trials and real-world data have also shown that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at reducing the risk of severe disease and death." https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/covid-19-mrna-vaccines-tested-clinical-trials-arent-experimental/ "There are many reasons why the COVID-19 vaccines could be developed so quickly. Here are just a few [highlights excerpted to comply with forum fair use quoting rules]: The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were created with a method that has been in development for years, so the companies could start the vaccine development process early in the pandemic. ... The vaccine developers didn’t skip any testing steps, but conducted some of the steps on an overlapping schedule to gather data faster. Vaccine projects had plenty of resources, as governments invested in research and/or paid for vaccines in advance. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines-myth- versus-fact

As the summer travel season picks up, COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising in Los Angeles County — and some of those recently reinfected are finding their latest bout to be the worst yet. There are no signs at this point that the latest coronavirus variants are producing more severe illness, either nationally or in California. While COVID hospitalizations are still rising in L.A. County, and are now higher than they were at this same point last year, they remain below the relatively mild peak seen in summer 2023. But doctors have always warned that, though subsequent COVID infections are often mild compared with a first brush with the disease, they can still cause severe illness. Even if someone doesn't need to visit the emergency room or be hospitalized, people describe painful, even agonizing symptoms. "The dogma is that every time you get COVID, it's milder. But I think we need to keep our minds open to the possibility that some people have worse symptoms," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert. Each time getting COVID, he said, is "kind of like playing COVID roulette." (more) Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-08/playing-covid-roulette-some-infected-by-flirt-variants-report-their-most-unpleasant-symptoms-yet

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for June 30-July 6, 2024: --1,377 new COVID hospitalizations, averaging 197 per day, down 1,879 / 57.7% from 3,256 the prior week --11 new COVID deaths, down 5 / 31.3% from 16 the prior week --735 current COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition (pneumonia symptoms), up 26 / 3.7% from 709 the prior week (dark purple) --340 current COVID patients hospitalized requiring intubation/ventilation to breathe, up 4 / 1.2% from 336 the prior week (light purple) The latest 1,377 tally of new weekly COVID hospitalizations, averaging 197 per day, marked Thailand's largest single-week decline of the year, following the prior week's total of 3,256 that was the country's highest since December 2022. Still, the latest reported level of new weekly COVID hospitalizations remains almost three times higher than the number (501) at the start of the recent COVID surge in mid-March. And the latest single-week decline is only the third weekly decline in the past 17 weeks. The latest tally of 11 weekly COVID deaths is off of the year-high total of 16 from the prior week, but more than double the weekly COVID deaths total at the start of 2024. The latest small increases to 735 serious condition COVID hospitalized patients and 340 hospitalized patients requiring ventilation to breathe both remained just slightly below the year-high totals set last month. Cumulative figures since the start of the year are COVID hospitalizations (32,582) & COVID deaths (183). Of the 11 official COVID deaths for the past week, the MoPH is reporting that 6 were male and 5 female. By age, 6 were ages 70 and above, 3 were ages 60-69, and 1 each were in the age ranges 50-59 and 20-49. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main The weekly new COVID hospitalization totals since this year's spring surge began in mid-March have been: March 16 -- 501 March 23 -- 630 March 30 -- 728 April 6 -- 774 April 13 -- 849 April 20 -- 1,004 April 27 -- 1,672 May 4 -- 1,792 May 11 -- 1,880 May 18 - 1,882 May 25 -- 1,801 June 1 -- 1,863 June 8 -- 2,762 June 15 -- 2,881 June 22 -- 1,823 June 29 -- 3,256 July 6 -- 1,377 By comparison, Thailand's key weekly COVID indicators to start 2024 were 664 new COVID hospitalizations and 4 COVID deaths for the first week of the year. Compared to the first week of July in 2023, cumulative COVID deaths thus far this year of 183 are far below the 727 figure from a year ago. But cumulative COVID hospitalizations thus far this year of 32,582 are running above the 29,696 total from the same point last year. Last week, MoPH official predicted that this year's spring COVID surge would peak by mid-July. Last year, Thailand also had a spring COVID surge that peaked in June before COVID hospitalizations declined into the fall.