TallGuyJohninBKK

The prior poster you were responding to above had posted about youngster COVID hospitalizations, and that's the post you responded to with your unfounded "sensationalism" claims. His comments didn't touch on COVID deaths at all... And clearly, his info was correct and an accurate rendering of the facts. Unfortunately, Thailand happens to have one of the highest road fatality rates in the world, which is going to make any such comparatives look small. But not so much in other places such as the U.S. "COVID-19 was among the top 7 leading causes of death for all groups over age 5 in December 2021. In December 2021, COVID-19 ranked as the number 1 cause of death for people age 45-54, number 2 for people ages 35-44 and 55-64, and number 3 for people ages 25-34 and over 65. And, number 4 for 15 to 24 year olds: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/covid-19-leading-cause-of-death-ranking/

Not so in the least. Perhaps you need to check with the U.S. CDC: Omicron wave was brutal on kids; hospitalization rates 4X higher than delta’s "Despite being widely seen as mild, the omicron coronavirus variant has been brutal on children and adolescents—particularly babies and toddlers, who are still ineligible for vaccination. According to a study published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the peak rate of pediatric hospitalizations during the recent omicron surge was four times higher than the peak seen during delta's wave last fall. And the largest increase was seen in children ages 0 to 4, who had a peak hospitalization rate five times higher than that seen amid delta's wave. ... During the omicron wave, weekly pediatric hospitalizations peaked at 7.1 per 100,000 children, which is about four times higher than delta's peak rate of 1.8 per 100,000. Peak hospitalization rates of children ages 0 to 4 years during the omicron wave were more than five times higher, with about 15.6 hospitalizations per 100,000 children, compared with delta's peak in that age group of 2.9 per 100,000. https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/omicron-wave-was-brutal-on-kids-hospitalization-rates-4x-higher-than-deltas/ https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7107e4.htm?s_cid=mm7107e4_w And direct from the CDC study: "Coinciding with increased circulation of the Omicron variant, COVID-19–associated hospitalization rates among children and adolescents aged 0–17 years increased rapidly in late December 2021, especially among children aged 0–4 years who are not yet eligible for vaccination. Throughout the periods of Delta and Omicron predominance, hospitalization rates remained lower among fully vaccinated adolescents aged 12–17 years than among unvaccinated adolescents." AND "The Omicron variant peak (7.1 per 100,000) was four times that of the Delta variant peak (1.8), with the largest increase observed among children aged 0–4 years.¶ During December 2021, the monthly hospitalization rate among unvaccinated adolescents aged 12–17 years (23.5) was six times that among fully vaccinated adolescents (3.8)."

I guess you've missed the facts that Thailand COVID cases, COVID hospitalizations and serious cases including those requiring intubation are steadily increasing on a daily basis. And more broadly, while COVID currently is declining in various western countries right now, it's substantially rising in a whole group of Asian countries including Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and others. COVID IN THAILAND: https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

Interesting that Phuket is proposing this at the very same time as the MoPH produces a graphic, as of several days ago, saying the province is already almost at full capacity (12 of 14 beds used) for its relatively few hospital beds (Level 3) capable of handling the most seriously ill COVID patients. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=317236350431615&set=a.307692548052662&type=3

Glad you posted that chart. I had seen that as well. Good to see that total Pfizer doses,a quite effective vaccine, have finally passed Sinovac as the second most administered vaccine in Thailand after AZ. Equally unfortunate that Moderna, generally shown to be the most effective of the current crop of COVID vaccines, is the least used one in Thailand.

The last rising trend time Thailand had about 700 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition and 200 or so requiring intubation was late April 2021 at the beginning of Thailand's Delta wave. Those numbers steadily then increased to top out at 5,600 plus and 1,100 plus, respectively, by August 2021, before that wave began to subside.

Up up and away.... The trend continues. Notably, a big jump in the number of hospitalized COVID cases in serious condition. Daily deaths number slowly rising as well. https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

I've looked at that kind of approach before. But one thing I could never get a clear answer on is the following: If you encrypt files on Windows 10 PC #1, let's say in a volume on a portable USB drive, using something like Veracrypt, and then later you want to move that drive and use it on a different PC, how's that going to work? Does all the necessary encryption info reside natively on the encrypted volume? Or, some of it remains on the original PC, and thus using the encrypted drive on a different PC is going to be problematic? One other thing I think I came to understand from my inquiries: once you encrypt data like that, the data on the encrypted drive isn't going to be accessible to the typical pre-scheduled Windows backup programs?

AFAIK, the stats in the OP report here are pretty much unimportant. What matters more in the current pandemic situation is the occupancy rate of hospitals' COVID isolation beds, of which there are vastly fewer, and not so much general purpose beds that aren't suitable for COVID patients. It's also worth noting that none of the recent Thai news reports on the hospital occupancy rates have made any mention at all of their current occupancy rate for COVID isolation beds, which is the first thing you'd want to know in this situation.

I think you mean "April". https://asia.april-international.com/en/international-health-insurance/myhealth-thailand

COVID deaths, even in the young, are vastly more. Not even any comparison.

Also, dunno if this was updated here previously, but I saw this as a follow-up to some info that previously had been posted in the forum. "The death of 12-year-old boy after getting his first shot of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine last month was not caused by the vaccine itself, Department of Disease Control (DDC) said. " "Chawetsan said that a lab biopsy showed the patient had died from septic arthritis at the knees and septic shock. There was no sign of infection at the point where the vaccine was administered. Doctors therefore ruled that the death was not caused by the vaccine but by other events that occurred at roughly the same time as vaccination." "Chawetsan added that Thailand had administered over 120 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine since February last year, and 2,081 people had died after their vaccination. Of these deaths, 1,464 cases were investigated by medical experts, who ruled that 938 cases were not related to the Covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile 250 cases are awaiting additional evidence, while 272 cases were ruled inconclusive. This leaves only four fatalities related to Covid-19 vaccines. Two people died due to vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), one from severe allergic reaction and shock, and one from Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis." https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40012524?fbclid=IwAR3rCMYW3oI9D2lsnyZnY5tWN-ziWS_iMhZ9jT7u8JyBqpdCUVc56ai-QzQ

Our friend Dr. Yong posted a useful chart earlier today, showing Thailand's trends in COVID cases and deaths over time. https://www.facebook.com/yong.poovorawan/posts/7233353436707211

Dunno if it's been noted here before, but the recent govt. stats now say they've finally reached their original goal of getting 70+% percent vaccinated with two shots -- now 2+ years into the pandemic. Just in time for Omicron to change the playing field, and now basically require 3 shots total to be substantially effective. On the 3 shot measurement, the government says Thailand only has 27.4% of its population triple vaxed thus far. Today's update from MoPH: https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/5073570

Doing a new, expanded update format starting today, for Sunday's stats: https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

Meanwhile, great news out of the U.S. (sarcasm alert): Only about 2,000 people per day on average are dying of Omicron COVID there right now. You know... that "mild" disease that's not much more than the "flu." That news comes as the U.S. is heading toward 1 million total "official" COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic (926,497 at last count). But hey, we're SO done with COVID... ???? CDC Source link

Latest news that it's a waste when it comes to COVID...and potentially dangerous: Ivermectin futile for mild to moderate COVID-19, study finds "Early treatment with the antiparasitic drug ivermectin does not lower the risk of severe disease when given to patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, according to a study today in JAMA Internal Medicine. ... Doctors at 20 Malaysian government hospitals and a COVID-19 quarantine center conducted an open-label, randomized clinical trial on the use of ivermectin in the first week of COVID-19 symptom onset in hospitalized adults 50 years and older with mild or moderate illness and underlying medical conditions. The study took place from May 31 to Oct 25, 2021. ... Fifty-two of 241 patients in the ivermectin group (21.6%) and 43 of 249 patients in the standard-care-only group (17.3%) became severely ill (relative risk [RR], 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.87 to 1.80). There were no significant differences between the two groups in time to symptom resolution or rates of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, 28-day in-hospital death, or adverse events. ... Forty-four patients (9.0%) had 55 adverse events, 33 of them in the ivermectin group. The most common adverse event was diarrhea, occurring in 14 (5.8%) in the ivermectin group and 4 (1.6%) in the standard-care group. Five serious adverse events—four in the ivermectin group—were reported." (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/02/ivermectin-futile-mild-moderate-covid-19-study-finds

The UK report and data you cited above was just for vaccine effectineness against symptomatic infection, which certainly is a laudable effect. But the same report also included info on third shot boosters' effectiveness against COVID hospitalization and death. Hospitalization (page 8): "After a Pfizer booster (after either primary vaccination course), vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation started at around 90% dropping to around 75% after 10 to 14 weeks. After a Moderna booster (mRNA-1273) (after either primary vaccination course), vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation was 90 to 95% up to 9 weeks after vaccination." Death (page 11): "Vaccine effectiveness against mortality with the Omicron variant has been estimated for those aged 50 years and older... at 2 or more weeks following a booster vaccine effectiveness was 95% against mortality." Those aren't bad odds, and I'll certainly take those -- especially since the comparatively small remaining extent of risk is many many magnitudes smaller compared with the comparable COVID hospitalization and death risks to the unvaccinated. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1055620/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_7.pdf The same report also included a discussion on how vaccines and boosters may reduce the likelihood of COVID transmission even in less common cases of so-called "breakthrough" infections among the vaccinated -- which has been a much debated issue here on the forum: "Uninfected individuals cannot transmit; therefore, the vaccines are also provide some protection against transmission. There may be additional benefit, beyond that due to prevention of infection, if some of those individuals who become infected despite vaccination are also at a reduced risk of transmitting (for example, because of reduced duration or level of viral shedding). Several studies have provided evidence of reduced risk of household transmission from vaccinated cases compared to unvaccinated cases (16, 17, 18, 19)."

And before someone says, well Tallguy, those are just CASES... And they don't really matter with Omicron... What really matters are things like hospitalizations. Well, unfortunately, Our World in Data doesn't have comparative COVID hospitalization data on all of the Asian countries in the charts above. But they do have on a couple, as shown below -- rates doubled to almost quadrupled since the start of the year: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-hospitalizations And here's Thailand daily counts of COVID patients in hospital since the start of the year, showing the same kind of spike (more than quadrupled): Jan 4 -- 17,280 Feb. 1 -- 40,590 (Past Week) Feb 14 –- 60,558 Feb 15 –- 60,303 Feb 16 -- 62,752 Feb 17 –- 64,919 Feb 18 -- 69,943 Feb 19 – 74,697 SOUTH KOREA: "SEOUL, Feb 18 (Reuters) - South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases topped 100,000 for the first time amid its Omicron outbreak, with authorities saying social distancing measures would be only slightly eased ahead of the March 9 presidential election. ... Other anti-pandemic rules such as a six-person cap on private gatherings, a seven-day quarantine for international arrivals, mask mandates in public spaces, and vaccine passes for a range of businesses, will be in place until at least March 13, officials said, after the election." https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-daily-covid-19-cases-top-100000-first-time-kdca-2022-02-18/ MALAYSIA: "Malaysia’s new coronavirus cases reached a record high, exceeding the level seen last year when the nation was in the throes of the delta wave. The country reported 27,831 new daily infections on Wednesday, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, data from the health ministry show. That was the most since the previous record on Aug. 26, when daily cases hit 24,599. Malaysia joins neighbors Singapore and Indonesia in grappling with the worst daily Covid caseloads of the pandemic to date. New infections in Thailand rose to a five-month high last week, while Vietnam reported record cases on Tuesday. “We need to brace this omicron storm together,” Malaysia’s Health-Director General Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a tweet, as he urged citizens to take their booster shots. “Many countries in our region are seeing an upward trend.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-16/malaysia-hits-new-daily-covid-record-as-omicron-surge-continues ----------------------- The main question now seems to be how long these major upward case and hospitalization spikes will continue here in the region, before they presumably will ultimately peak and decline, as they've already done in the West. In short, not done by a mile.

Somebody obviously has forgotten to tell a bunch of the Asian countries that people are "done" with COVID after 2 years and everything is getting back to normal (sarcasm alert). Chart below since the start of 2022, per capita cases by country. Source link And if I remove the high testing countries from the chart like South Korean and a couple others, this is what the remainder including Thailand look like:

Saw no such breakdown on that national number....

"The Ministry of Public Health is planning to open more hotel based isolation facilities, to accommodate those infected who cannot remain in isolation in their condominiums or who may not find it convenient to remain in community isolation facilities." https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thailands-hospitals-and-hospitels-half-full-again-as-covid-19-continues-to-spread/ Perhaps this is part of the government's response to the recent pleas from the Minor Group exec for them to make things easier on the tourist industry... Let's go out and get more hotels into the COVID business.... But who's going to pay the daily "hospitel" hotel rates for ordinary Thais? I don't think that's covered under their standard government health insurance program... ????

It's a good example of some part of the TH goverment doing PR blather, as I posted on earlier in the thread with the very misleading The Nation article talking about the occupancy rate for TOTAL beds.... when they should have been, but didn't, talk about the occupancy rate for beds suitable for COVID patients, meaning isolation, which are far fewer in number.

You're talking about sending things from Thailand TO the U.S. Here's we're talking about sending from the U.S. to Thailand. And over the years, I've sent scores of small packages from the U.S. to Thailand via USPS, and NEVER had one of them disappear. It's a perfectly reliable means for the US to Thailand route.... Though, I have also heard a lot of complaints from people about the TH to US route being often problematic. But, of course, you can't SEND anything from Thailand to the US via USPS... It's going to be EMS from Thailand, and then a handoff to the USPS once in the U.S., and perhaps that's where the problems occur. PS - if you really want to get reamed on Customs fees, go ahead and use DHL to send any kind of $ value package from the U.S. to Thailand.... I made that mistake once, and never again!

A month or so back, I had a package rejected for shipping because it contained 4 regular consumer sized cans of shaving creme (Gillette Foamy type). Ran afoul of the shipping rules against aerosols... so they said. ????