TallGuyJohninBKK

Six people found dead in Bangkok hotel killed with cyanide, Thai police say The multiple murder is thought to be connected to a joint investment in a Japanese hospital construction project. Euronews with AP Published on 18/07/2024 Initial autopsy results have identified traces of cyanide in the blood of six Vietnamese and American guests found dead at a central Bangkok luxury hotel, with Thai authorities saying one is believed to have poisoned the others over a bad investment. ... Trairong Piwpan, chief of the Thai police force's forensic division, said there were traces of cyanide in the cups and thermos flasks that police found in the room. This was later confirmed by the initial autopsy results. ... Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, head of the forensic medicine department at Chulalongkorn University's medical school, said at a news conference that there was cyanide found in the blood of all six bodies and that CAT scans had revealed no signs of blunt force trauma. (more) https://www.euronews.com/2024/07/18/six-people-found-dead-in-bangkok-hotel-killed-with-cyanide-thai-police-say

Good thorough article by the BBC, that goes beyond the OP news report here, and has the doctors doing the autopsies on the victims confirming that cynanide was found in all of them. Cyanide found in blood of Bangkok hotel victims By Thanyarat Doksone & Kelly Ng, in Bangkok and Singapore "Cyanide has been found in the blood of all six people who died in a luxury hotel suite in Bangkok, say doctors after examining their bodies. Based on the initial post-mortem examination, they say there is "no other cause" that would explain their deaths "except for cyanide". But further tests are being carried out to determine the "intensity" of the deadly chemical and to rule out any other toxins." (more) https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3g64ljwp2go

COVID-19, influenza outbreaks have peaked: CDC 07/16/2024 Taipei, July 16 (CNA) COVID-19 and influenza cases in Taiwan have peaked, with the epidemic phases likely to pass by mid-August, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday. ... Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), the deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, said that 898 new domestic COVID-19 cases with severe complications were recorded last week, a week-over-week drop of around 9 percent. "But the overall number of cases remains high, exceeding our epidemic prediction threshold, which indicates that the outbreak is still ongoing," Lee said, adding that 104 new COVID-19-related death cases were reported last week, slightly higher than the previous week's 99 cases. (more) https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202407160016 So, recapping the successive news reports above, Taiwan's weekly COVID deaths over the past four weeks have gone from 40 to 64 to 99 and now 104 for the most recent week.

Indeed, prior news reports on all this, including the change to 60-day visa exempt stamps, made it clear that the new policies could NOT take effect until... A. they were officially signed off by the Prime Minister, and B. then after that they were published in the Royal Gazette Typically, AFAIK, once the PM approves something, there's also an intermediate step where I believe what's called the Council of State reviews such measures for their legality prior to RG publication. It seems more than a bit strange that the above news report only talks about action by the Interior Minister and makes absolutely no mention about actions by the PM or Royal Gazette publication. I'm not going to believe the 60-day visa exempt change has or can come into effect until AFTER I read a news report here announcing that all these changes have been published in the RG. And AFAIK, that hasn't happened yet.

With the SmartTube app on Android and Fire TV devices, if it doesn't already give you an app message prompt asking you to update, you can always check for doing a manual update in the app Settings menu, under the About tab... In there, there's a menu item to check/click for checking for app updates. Yep, I was getting 403 errors as well with Smart Tube last week. Whenever something like that happens, the first thing I always do is check manually if there's an available update for the app. Last week, there was, I installed the update, and it solved the 403 errors problem. Lately, Google said they were going to be doing things aimed at countering third-party apps that provide the same kind of benefits (no commercials) as those provided by their own paid YouTube Premium service. Frankly, for me, the SmartTube app is a far better app than any version of the native YT app, chiefly because it has far more available customizations, including the ability in Settings to entirely hide any of the pre-configured content menu categories that you may not be interested in or use.

The latest weekly COVID report issued today by the Thai Ministry of Public Health is a clear sign that the country's spring 2024 COVID surge is finally winding down. The report included a second consecutive week of substantial declines in new weekly hospitalizations for COVID from the peak of 3,256 reached in late June, a figure six-fold higher than mid-March when the surge began. Monday's MoPH report also marked the first time since mid-March that Thailand reported week-over-week declines in all four publicly reported COVID indicators -- new weekly COVID hospitalizations, new weekly COVID deaths, patients hospitalized in serious condition, and patients requiring ventilation to breathe.

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for July 7 - 13, 2024: --1,004 new COVID hospitalizations, averaging 143 per day, down 373 / 27.1% from 1,377 the prior week --5 new COVID deaths, down 6 / 54.5% from 11 the prior week --682 current COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition (pneumonia symptoms), down 53 / 7.2% from 735 the prior week (dark purple) --309 current COVID patients hospitalized requiring intubation/ventilation to breathe, down 31 / 9.1% from 340 the prior week (light purple) --------------------------------------- The latest MoPH report is finally a clear sign that Thailand's spring 2024 COVID surge is winding down after new weekly COVID hospitalizations peaked at 3,256 two weeks ago in late June, following 3-1/2 months of near relentless increases that saw those hospitalizations rise more than six-fold from mid-March levels (501). Monday's report marked the second consecutive week of substantial declines in new COVID weekly hospitalizations, and the first time since mid-March that Thailand has seen week-over-week declines in all four publicly reported COVID indicators -- new hospitalizations, new deaths, serious condition hospitalized patients and patients requiring ventilation to breathe. The newly reported 1,004 new COVID hospitalizations last week, averaging 143 per day, now are only about double the weekly number (501) reported in mid-March. The latest tally of 5 officially reported weekly COVID deaths is back to the typical kind of COVID death numbers Thailand has seen during most of 2024, down from 16 that tied Thailand's year-high weekly total two weeks ago. Cumulative officially reported figures since the start of 2024 are COVID hospitalizations (33,586) & COVID deaths (188). Of the 5 official COVID deaths for the past week, the MoPH is reporting that all were female. By age, 3 were ages 70 and above, 1 was age 60-69, and 1 was age 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 July 13 -- 1,004 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 second week of July in 2023, cumulative officially reported COVID deaths thus far this year of 188 are far below the 741 figure from a year ago. But cumulative COVID hospitalizations thus far this year of 33,586 are running higher than the 30,309 total from the same point last year.

US COVID-19 activity rising steadily July 12, 2024 Respiratory illness viruses as a whole remain at low levels, but many parts of the countries are experiencing consistent increases in COVID-19 activity, which has been trending upward from very low levels, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest updates. Test positivity, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations—the main markers the CDC uses to gauge virus activity—are all rising, especially in seniors and especially in western states. Earlier this week, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said on X that COVID-19 infections are increasing in the city, and it urged people—especially seniors and people with underlying medical conditions—to consider wearing masks in crowded indoor settings. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/us-covid-19-activity-rising-steadily

Because this particular coronavirus re COVID was a new one for humans with no historic past track record to base predictions/expectations on, other than the history of OTHER respiratory viruses. But as time has passed, COVID hasn't behaved the same as other respiratory viruses before it. So we learn as we go along. And different countries/geographies may have different seasonality patterns. Per the U.S. CDC: COVID-19 can surge throughout the year "Many respiratory virus illnesses peak during the winter due to environmental conditions and human behaviors. COVID-19 has peaks in the winter and also at other times of the year, including the summer, driven by new variants and decreasing immunity from previous infections and vaccinations. ... Because the evolution of new variants remains unpredictable, SARS-CoV-2 is not a typical “winter” respiratory virus. ... Data from four years of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths show that COVID-19 has winter peaks (most recently in late December 2023 and early January 2024), but also summer peaks (most recently in July and August of 2023). There is no distinct COVID-19 season like there is for influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)." https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-can-surge-throughout-the-year.html

Sure thing..... "According to World Health Organization data, 400,000 lives in England are estimated to have been saved up to March 2023 due to the COVID-19 vaccine programme." https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/16/whos-eligible-for-the-2024-covid-19-vaccine-or-spring-booster/ AND Fact Check: No evidence to link UK excess deaths to COVID-19 vaccines ... "ONS data show all-cause deaths in England were higher among the unvaccinated than those who had received at least one dose, for every month in its April 2021 to May 2023. “There is no evidence COVID-19 vaccinations are linked to these estimated excess deaths,” a spokeswoman for the ONS said via email. Experts point to the long-term effects of surviving COVID infection, NHS delays and a lack of preventive care as explanations for the higher-than-average mortalities." https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/no-evidence-link-uk-excess-deaths-covid-19-vaccines-2024-02-06/

CDC update for July 12, 2024: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home CDC Current Epidemic Growth Status As of July 09, 2024, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 45 states and territories, declining or likely declining in 0 states and territories, and are stable or uncertain in 3 states and territories. https://www.cdc.gov/forecast-outbreak-analytics/about/rt-estimates.html https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

Weekly COVID update as of early July: https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/ Weekly COVID deaths, weekly new COVID hospitalizations and testing positivity rate all up from the prior update. https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/

As for the issue of COVID vaccine safety: '[COVID] Vaccines Have a Better Safety Profile Than Almost Any Others' "Public health messaging is also to blame for the lower-than-normal COVID vaccine rates, said Al-Aly. Patients need to better understand that the role of the vaccine isn't to completely prevent COVID but to reduce the likelihood of hospitalization and death, similar to that of a flu shot. By reducing the risk for severe disease, the vaccine also reduces the risk for long COVID, a debilitating condition that's still poorly understood, has no cure, and has already caused thousands of American deaths, he said. Botched public health messaging also allowed for misinformation to run rampant. Rare adverse events associated with the COVID vaccine have been severely overplayed and spread like wildfire on social media. "Patients need to know that like any vaccine, vaccine injury does occur, but these vaccines have a better safety profile than almost any others," Al-Aly said. "The rewards of getting the vaccine far outweigh the risks, and patients need to understand that." Medscape https://archive.ph/BxlSZ

"One of the greatest public health successes to come out of the covid-19 pandemic was the development of safe and effective mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.1234 Approximately 92% of fully vaccinated Americans received an mRNA based vaccine, marking the first time that this vaccine delivery system has been used at scale.5 ... The future of mRNA based therapeutics and vaccines With the success of the mRNA technology platform demonstrated with covid-19 vaccines, hundreds of new products incorporating this technology using mRNA synthesis and lipid nanoparticles are being tested. ... Some experts believe that we are entering a new era with mRNA technology and the promise of regenerative medicine and personalized cancer vaccines on the horizon. ... Conclusion The development of mRNA covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic was a monumental scientific success. This achievement was possible, in large part, because of significant US public investment in research and development during the preceding 35 years and record setting public contributions during the pandemic to accelerate and reduce the financial risk of vaccine development. The resulting mRNA vaccines have benefitted millions of people and saved millions of lives." US public investment in development of mRNA covid-19 vaccines: retrospective cohort study 01 March 2023 https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj-2022-073747

Anti-vaxers of the world unite!!! 🙂 And meanwhile, in the real world: 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. ... The effort, though marred by persisting inequities, prevented deaths on an unimaginable scale, said Oliver Watson of Imperial College London, who led the new modeling study. “Catastrophic would be the first word that comes to mind,” Watson said of the outcome if vaccines hadn’t been available to fight the coronavirus. The findings “quantify just how much worse the pandemic could have been if we did not have these vaccines.” https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5 AND Report: COVID-19 vaccines saved US $1.15 trillion, 3 million lives 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. The modeling study estimated hospitalizations and deaths averted through the end of November 2022, at a time when 80% of the US population had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. ... "Without vaccination the U.S. would have experienced 1.5 times more infections, 3.8 times more hospitalizations, and 4.1 times more deaths," the authors wrote. "These losses would have been accompanied by more than $1 trillion in additional medical costs that were averted because of fewer infections, hospitalizations, and deaths." https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/report-covid-19-vaccines-saved-us-115-trillion-3-million-lives

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