TallGuyJohninBKK

That, if true, seems very surprising and strange.

You might have noticed over the past four years that medical science has the ability to test for and confirm the presence (or lack thereof) of a COVID infection. All the COVID hospitalizations reported by the Ministry of Public Health have confirming tests done to diagnose the infection as COVID... otherwise the cases wouldn't be reported as COVID. When it comes to hospitalizations, at least, they're not confusing COVID with air pollution related illness.

Those are the typical, most common symptoms of the latest variant. But as the last weekly COVID report from the Thai government clearly shows, the current version of COVID still has the ability to put SOME people seriously ill in hospital and also kill a small number of those.

"New COVID hospitalizations in Thailand rose to 664 for the week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, up 11.8% from 594 the prior week, and reaching the highest new COVID hospitalizations count in the past six months since early July. Last week also marked the first time the weekly new COVID hospitalizations tally had topped 600 since mid-July."

Thailand's latest seasonal COVID wave continued its now three-month-long upward surge with more significant increases in reported new COVID hospitalizations and counts of seriously ill COVID patients in hospital during the first week of 2024, according to the latest report from the Thai Ministry of Public Health. New COVID hospitalizations in Thailand rose to 664 for the week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, up 11.8% from 594 the prior week, and reaching the highest new COVID hospitalizations count in the past six months since early July. Last week also marked the first time the weekly new COVID hospitalizations tally had topped 600 since mid-July. Likewise, the count of currently hospitalized COVID patients considered in serious condition rose to 144 for the latest week, up 20% from 120 the prior week, and reaching the highest count in the past five months since early August. COVID deaths reported by the Thai government, meanwhile, remained at low levels with only 4 reported for the latest week, up from 3 the prior week. The weekly COVID deaths reported by the Thai government have remained consistently at single-digit levels since 12 were reported for the first week of August. The current year-end spike in COVID hospitalizations followed a prior spike that ran from mid-April to early June, the post Thai New Year period, with new hospitalizations then peaking at 3,085 for the week May 28 to June 3. After that, the weekly new COVID hospitalization numbers generally declined and hit recent lows in October, bottoming out at 124 for the week of Oct. 8-14. Since then, the latest upward surge has seen new weekly COVID hospitalizations increase fivefold through the first week of January. Thailand stopped publicly reporting COVID infection/case data last fall, as have many countries, so tallies of COVID new hospitalizations have become one of the key indicators that public health officials these days use to monitor the successive up and down waves of COVID infections. According to the latest weekly report, Thailand has had 39,121 COVID hospitalizations and 852 officially declared COVID deaths since the start of 2023. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the MoPH has reported a cumulative total of 4.75 million COVID hospitalizations and 34,521 officially declared COVID deaths.

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for Dec. 31, 2023 - Jan. 6, 2024: --664 new COVID hospitalizations, up 70 from the prior week --4 new COVID deaths, up 1 from prior week --144 COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition, up 24 from the prior week --89 COVID patients hospitalized requiring intubation to breathe, up 15 from the prior week https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

Except as the WebMD article you quote notes: "there is no good scientific evidence to support most of these uses. There is also no good evidence to support using chlorine dioxide for COVID-19." AND "The US FDA has warned consumers to avoid chlorine dioxide supplement products due to the risk for serious safety issues and death."

And the upshot of Gorski's article: "the extrapolation used in this paper is problematic, but it is nonetheless likely true that rampant HCQ use probably did lead to a substantial number of deaths early in the pandemic. I would also add that the cult of HCQ, in which many later decided not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 because they mistakenly believed that HCQ and ivermectin were safe, inexpensive, and highly effective treatments, likely killed many more who might not have died if they had been vaccinated." ... "I tend to agree that the study likely does underestimate HCQ-associated deaths, but I also have to concede that the imprecision in the estimates doesn’t allow me to assume that."

My recollection when I did mine a year or so back is that when I paid the new passport fee online, I also had pay a separate amount for a return prepaid envelope... That's PAY for them to provide a return envelope... not send them or otherwise provide them with an actual return envelope.

Life expectancy went down markedly in the U.S. and elsewhere throughout and because of the COVID pandemic. But rates have been beginning to recover lately as the pandemic has become less severe. The COVID vaccines saved millions of lives of people who otherwise would have died from COVID, as numerous credible studies have found. Among them: COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say June 24, 2022 "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 researchers used data from 185 countries to estimate that vaccines prevented 4.2 million COVID-19 deaths in India, 1.9 million in the United States, 1 million in Brazil, 631,000 in France and 507,000 in the United Kingdom." (more) https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-england-54d29ae3af5c700f15d704c14ee224b5

Regarding the abovementioned claim regarding chlorine dioxide, also NO! Factors associated with the consumption of chlorine dioxide to prevent and treat COVID-19 in the Peruvian population: a cross-sectional study Published: 17 November 2021 Chlorine dioxide consumption "Chlorine dioxide is a reactive synthetic gas that has been used in the paper industry, decontamination of public buildings, and water purification [5]. Its high reactivity explains its properties to eliminate microorganisms, however, this also determines the potential adverse effects [5]. Despite this, chlorine dioxide has been promoted as a cure for diseases such as malaria, HIV and cancer, among others [13]; it has also been proposed to prevent or treat COVID-19 [14]. However, there is no evidence on the efficacy of chlorine dioxide for such purposes, but there is evidence on its harmful effects, so institutions such as the Pan American Health Organization do not recommend its use [15]." [emphasis added] https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-12191-9 AND Use of Ivermectin and Chlorine Dioxide for COVID-19 Treatment and Prophylaxis in Peru: A Narrative Review Published online 2022 Nov 23 "Chlorine dioxide was already being marketed in the United States and Europe as a disinfectant and “cure-all” before the coronavirus pandemic. One common product produces chlorine dioxide by combining sodium chlorite and citric acid immediately before use. Since these products were already on the market, they were quickly promoted as COVID-19 prophylactics and treatments [13]. However, the usefulness of this chemical has been rejected by several important organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization and the Peruvian National Institute of Health because there is no available published scientific evidence that has supported the use of chlorine dioxide for COVID-19 prevention or treatment, whether administered orally or by inhalation." [emphasis added] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9788901/ CD has been shown as an effective way of killing viruses on inanimate surfaces like masks and other surfaces.... but not internally in the human body. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Warns Seller Marketing Dangerous Chlorine Dioxide Products that Claim to Treat or Prevent COVID-19 "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning letter to a seller that markets fraudulent and dangerous chlorine dioxide products known as “Miracle Mineral Solution” for prevention and treatment of “Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019” (COVID-19). The FDA has previously warned consumers not to purchase or drink chlorine dioxide products sold online as medical treatments, as the agency is not aware of any scientific evidence supporting their safety or effectiveness and they pose significant risks to patient health." ... Chlorine dioxide products have not been shown to be safe and effective for any use, including COVID-19, but these products continue to be sold as a remedy for treating autism, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and flu, among other conditions, despite their harmful effects." https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-warns-seller-marketing-dangerous-chlorine-dioxide-products-claim

He was musing about the ability to somehow apply a "disinfectant" -- commonly thought of as bleach -- to internal human tissue in a way that would kill the coronavirus. And no, he wasn't right in the sense of being able to do that in any practical, medically acceptable way. Trump's comments came after William Bryan, the undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security, presented a study that found sun exposure and cleaning agents like bleach can kill the virus when it lingers on surfaces. "Trump remarked on the effectiveness of those methods and wondered if they could help address infections in the human body. ... "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me." ... "Later, Trump clarified his comments after a reporter asked Bryan whether disinfectants could actually be injected into COVID-19 patients. "It wouldn’t be through injections, almost a cleaning and sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work, but it certainly has a big effect if it’s on a stationary object." https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/07/13/fact-check-did-trump-tell-people-to-drink-bleach-to-kill-coronavirus/113754708/

Apart from pricing, as a general rule, when it comes to data coverage, AIS probably has the widest / broadest reach compared to True or DTAC. The differences probably wouldn't be meaningful in the big/bigger cities, but might be if you're going to be spending time out in the hinterlands.

Impact of Trump's Promotion of Unproven COVID-19 Treatments and Subsequent Internet Trends: Observational Study Published online 2020 Nov 20 ... "From March 1 to April 30, 2020, Donald J Trump made 11 tweets about unproven therapies and mentioned these therapies 65 times in White House briefings, especially touting hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. ... Our results show that there was a substantial increase in purchases and searches for previously unpurchased and unsearched therapies by the general public following the backing of US president Donald J Trump. These increases correlated with his discussions in press conferences and personal social media posts advocating for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine cures. ... Previous studies have shown that individuals are susceptible to easy claims and conspiracies without appropriate evidence [32], and once these inauthentic claims are given momentum, they are hard to dissuade." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7685699/

Another media report on the same study, this from Politico EU: Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during Covid, study finds Former US President Donald Trump said: ‘What do you have to lose? Take it.’ https://www.politico.eu/article/hydroxychloroquine-could-have-caused-17000-deaths-during-covid-study-finds/

The above news report has Trump calling it a "miracle" that a woman recovered (was cured?) from COVID after taking hydroxychloroquine -- though as the cited news report points out, whether the drug had anything to do with her recovery was up for debate. But then, of course, Trump in 2020 also said the same drug -- which numerous credible studies have found to have no benefit against COVID -- could be among "the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" for its potential effects against COVID-19. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-drug/no-proof-drug-touted-by-trump-is-effective-against-coronavirus-eu-idUSKBN21I275/ Once again, he was spectacularly wrong in his claims. All The Times Trump Has Promoted Hydroxychloroquine May 22, 2020 ... "March 21 Citing a paper that was later ripped apart by experts, Trump tweeted “HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine,” and said that the drugs should be “put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!” https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/05/22/all-the-times-trump-promoted-hydroxychloroquine/

As posted above in my prior answer to your challenge: "It does, indirectly and then directly via footnote: ""it is critical that representatives of public authorities should not, on the basis of their personal conviction, promote the prescription of medicines that have not been formally evaluated, thereby falsely raising hopes as to the existence of a solution to a complex health crisis [88]" ... [88] Karni A., Thomas K. Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Prompting Warning From Health Experts [Internet]. The New York Times. 2020 [cited 2023 Nov 29];Available from: 〈https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html〉"

It does, indirectly and then directly via footnote: ""it is critical that representatives of public authorities should not, on the basis of their personal conviction, promote the prescription of medicines that have not been formally evaluated, thereby falsely raising hopes as to the existence of a solution to a complex health crisis [88]" ... [88] Karni A., Thomas K. Trump Says He’s Taking Hydroxychloroquine, Prompting Warning From Health Experts [Internet]. The New York Times. 2020 [cited 2023 Nov 29];Available from: 〈https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-covid-coronavirus.html〉"

Trump Tells The Story Of A 'Miracle' Cure For COVID-19. But Was It? April 7, 2020 ... "At Tuesday's White House coronavirus task force briefing, Trump told the story of a woman from Michigan who was sick with COVID-19 — a story he had seen on television the night before. "She was just in horrible shape for 12 days, 14 days," Trump said. "She thought she was dead." The president said she implored her husband to obtain hydroxychloroquine, and the husband did so. "Four hours later, she awoke and she said, I feel better," Trump recalled. "And then, shortly thereafter, she felt great." "The way she spoke," Trump said, "it was like a miracle. And this was not a fan of mine, but she's a fan of my now." https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/07/829302545/trump-tells-the-story-of-a-miracle-cure-for-covid-19-but-was-it At another point, Trump also said hydroxychloroquine could be among "the biggest game changers in the history of medicine" for its potential effects against COVID-19. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-drug/no-proof-drug-touted-by-trump-is-effective-against-coronavirus-eu-idUSKBN21I275/

The authors of this study didn't perform their own study of the results of what happened with individual patients. If I'm reading their report correctly, their study is a synthesis of the findings of some 44 different studies on HCQ use in hospitalized COVID patients among six countries during the first COVID wave in 2020.

The study's authors did a good job of explaining the limitations of their finding and conclusions, for anyone who actually reads the entire study.... But here's their upshot: "Given that reliable data on hospitalizations, HCQ use and in-hospital mortality for most countries, these numbers likely represent the tip of the iceberg only thus largely underestimating the number of HCQ-related deaths worldwide. ... "The number of deaths related to HCQ worldwide was obviously underestimated because of the lack of studies in regions, such as East Europe, United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia, Africa, and South America. Since the number of inhabitants living in the countries included in the present study was ≈ 600 million, we might speculate that the real number of HCQ-induced deaths might be significantly higher given the wide use of HCQ during the first and subsequent waves in numerous countries." https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X

The referenced study here wasn't counting just deaths. It was attempting to tally the "excess mortality" (higher rate of deaths) among COVID hospitalized patients during 2020 who were treated with the drug vs. COVID deaths among comparable hospitalized patients who did not receive the drug.

A lot of the early studies done on hydroxychloroquine and COVID were found to be flawed or otherwise suspect. The subsequent, more competent research done has typically shown no meaningful benefit. Some of the history on that from a 2020 USAToday report: Fact check: Hydroxychloroquine has not worked in treating COVID-19, studies show ... "COVID-19 was popularized by a French study on March 20, which found the antimalarial drug, in combination with antibiotic azithromycin, was "significantly associated with viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients." ... "Medical experts and policymakers, desperate to turn the pandemic's tide and propelled by hype, jumped on the bandwagon. The FDA approved emergency use of the drug in late March, and many states and countries kickstarted their own clinical trials." ... "In April, the organization behind the journal that published the French study announced it did not meet the group's "expected standard." An analysis in May found the French study to be "quick and dirty ... as methodologists would legitimately say, with poor quality reporting and several biases." https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/21/fact-check-hydroxychloroquine-hasnt-helped-covid-19-studies-show/5407547002/ Some of the early reports of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment also came from doctors and others who had businesses selling that and other unproven treatments. Network of Right-Wing Health Care Providers Is Making Millions Off Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin, Hacked Data Reveals The data also reveals that 72,000 people paid at least $6.7 million for Covid-19 consultations promoted by America’s Frontline Doctors and vaccine conspiracist Simone Gold. "America’s Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars’ worth of those medications." https://theintercept.com/2021/09/28/covid-telehealth-hydroxychloroquine-ivermectin-hacked/

FWIW, according to the study, the U.S., in part because of its large population, accounted for the vast majority of the study's estimated COVID treatment hydroxychloroquine deaths -- nearly 13,000 of the almost 17,000 they estimated among the six studied countries during the first COVID wave in 2020. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222301853X