Is it safe to travel to Thailand? Latest advice after deadly coronavirus kills 132

[Tounge Thaied]

100% under control. 

[Stygge]

Today on prime time TV two Swedish virus experts adviced against going to Thailand for the next couple of months. They don't feel Thai authorities can control the situation. Open borders to China and a great influx of Chinese tourists togheter with poor equipped Thai hospitals can make the situation dangerous for tourists. 

They calculate that the numbers of infected will rise until September. 

I think other European experts will have the same advice which will affect tourism greatly for Thailand. They point out Vietnam as a safer alternative but best is to avoid southeast Asia entirely. 

 

[rabas]

On 1/31/2020 at 5:09 PM, GroveHillWanderer said:

I'm not sure that being "more bat like" makes it more deadly. What would be the basis for that?

 

In addition, this new virus also apparently came via another animal and not directly from bats.

 

As stated in the afore-mentioned Lancet publication: Hidden animal spreading coronavirus - Lancet-study

Why more deadly? Historical observation and medical science. When new viruses cross over to humans we likely have little immunity to them compared to the human viruses we are constantly exposed to. Spanish flu, Ebola, SARS, and MERS are good examples. If you mean more bat-like than say civet-like, that simply implies the intermediate civit adaptation may have brought it closer to a human like virus, but that is a bit hand waving.

 

I've read all the papers as they come out. Your reference is to a summary of one of them. In it they also suggest (wave their hands) that an intermediate step makes it 'more human like'.

 

However, an animal sold at the Huanan seafood market might represent an intermediate host that enables the emergence of the virus in humans, they said. For this reason, the researchers noted, future evolution, adaptation and spread of this virus require urgent investigation.

 

OTH, so far, no one has found evidence of an intermediate, and the generic codes are a lot closer to pure bat than SARS was, one of the circumstantial reasons some speculate it may have come from a lab. The Chinese were already working on the original bat virus from which SARS evolved, that came from a cave 2000 miles from Wuhan. The lab they used was in Wuhan 20+ kilometres from the wet market. Still, just speculation.

 

[rabas]

7 hours ago, codebunny said:

Yes... you catch flu through your eyeballs, believe it or not... the blood vessels on the surface of your eyes can transport any germs in airborne sneezicles into your bloodstream much quicker than any that might possibly go into your mouth or up your less accessible nostrils. Facemasks are for air pollution.

Its even easier than that. The inside corner of the eye has a small hole for tears to drain into the nose via a duct. Once the virus lands in the wet eye, it goes straight to the nose.

[Guest]

On 2/2/2020 at 10:12 PM, elliss said:

 

            Sex , is the reason , nothing new . 

       

555!  What could POSSIBLY go wrong in that scenario!  Girls whose income is based on "extremely close" contact with people who just got off an international flight!  BRILLIANT!  Honestly for those idiots ... SOM NAM NA 

[balo]

The virus is not as deadly as first reported according to some Norwegian virus experts. So they are just asking us to be careful with the hygiene at the airports and live your life as normal if you are fit to travel.  

[Guest]

On 2/3/2020 at 12:05 AM, codebunny said:

Yes... you catch flu through your eyeballs, believe it or not... the blood vessels on the surface of your eyes can transport any germs in airborne sneezicles into your bloodstream much quicker than any that might possibly go into your mouth or up your less accessible nostrils. Facemasks are for air pollution.

Yes!  Thank you!  This is why I feel that a face-mask without instructions .. can INCREASE infections .. because people put them on, and adjust them every 60 seconds .. touching the face and eyes.  In the other 59 seconds, they are playing with that petri dish we call a "smart phone."  I am not an alarmist, but I am also not an idiot.  To me, the key to prevention is "personal responsibility."  I have applied alcohol to our phones, keyboards, mouse, light-switches, doorknobs, etc.  Once a day. 

 

I have become much more "surface aware" and do not touch elevator buttons, handrails, doorknobs, etc.... and I also wash my hands much more often than normal .. since that is actually 10x better than wearing a mask.  What is GOOD about masks is, it stops others from breathing, coughing, and sneezing ... so yes!  Wear them ... but just put it on and don't fiddle with it .. it is not stopping any virus.

[HHTel]

1 hour ago, balo said:

The virus is not as deadly as first reported according to some Norwegian virus experts. So they are just asking us to be careful with the hygiene at the airports and live your life as normal if you are fit to travel.  

Do you have a link to this report?

[DrTuner]

21 minutes ago, bangkokequity said:

I have applied alcohol to our phones, keyboards, mouse, light-switches, doorknobs, etc.  Once a day. 

Careful with that. I managed to wipe the letters off from one keyboard some time ago. Now I use diluted Sodium Hypochlorite: https://www.lazada.co.th/products/highrox-sodium-hypochlorite-5-l-i410640472-s796170754.html . A lot more gentle on surfaces.

[metisdead]

A post with a link to Bangkok Post has been removed as well as a reply:

 

26) The Bangkok Post and Phuketwan do not allow quotes from their news articles or other material to appear on Thaivisa.com. Neither do they allow links to their publications. Posts from members containing quotes from or links to Bangkok Post or Phuketwan publications will be deleted from the forum.

 

A post containing gruesome photos from an unrelated event in the Philippines has been removed.

 

Some troll posts have been removed. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

Careful with that. I managed to wipe the letters off from one keyboard some time ago. Now I use diluted Sodium Hypochlorite: https://www.lazada.co.th/products/highrox-sodium-hypochlorite-5-l-i410640472-s796170754.html . A lot more gentle on surfaces.

Dude .. you are buying bleach online?  Are you being serious right now?  Anyway, since I am already putting alcohol on my hands, and everything else .. I can "risk" my keyboard letters .. (which, by the way ... are not going to disappear from 70% alcohol.)

FYI: Sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach, is most frequently used as a disinfecting agent. It is a broad-spectrum disinfectant that is effective for the disinfection of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and mycobacterium. However, sodium hypochlorite is NOT effective in the disinfection of bacterial spores and prions.

[DrTuner]

37 minutes ago, bangkokequity said:

Dude .. you are buying bleach online?  Are you being serious right now? 

Yeah, it's cheap. The "bleach" sold in BigC & co seems to contain other stuff, including lots of water. I used it to shock the PVC pipes in the house, needed a big can (you do not want to know what came out when rinsing).

 

I used isopropanol on the keyboard (lab grade, needed some for a DIY project), after about 10 times the lettering on the logitech keys started to fade. Just a heads-up.

[daveAustin]

On 2/2/2020 at 5:05 PM, codebunny said:

 Facemasks are for air pollution.

That must mean all operating theaters are severely polluted.

 

I plan on snogging the first Chinese lady I see at Swampy to give the immune system a head-start. 

[Tulak]

Taking reasonable precautions OK, but I still believe there is more chance being killed just crossing Petchcasem Road in Hua Hin ????

[Tayaout]

2 hours ago, Tulak said:

Taking reasonable precautions OK, but I still believe there is more chance being killed just crossing Petchcasem Road in Hua Hin ????

Not for me. I don't live in Hua Hin and don't plan to go back there. 

[balo]

11 hours ago, HHTel said:

Do you have a link to this report?

It was a Norwegian article I read a few days ago.  If I find the link I will post it. 

[HHTel]

33 minutes ago, balo said:

It was a Norwegian article I read a few days ago.  If I find the link I will post it. 

I think that's been debunked.  I posted a statement from the WHO following my initial post which was only a few hour old.

[HHTel]

2 minutes ago, HHTel said:

I think that's been debunked.  I posted a statement from the WHO following my initial post which was only a few hour old.

Sorry, I was thinking of something on another thread (there are far too many of them) so I'd still be interested in the link for that Norwegian report.

[Scott]

Posts using unsubstantiated information have been removed.  

 

[Vacuum]

On 2/4/2020 at 12:03 PM, balo said:

live your life as normal if you are fit to travel.  

...with a face mask 24/7 due to the crop burning.

[DannyCarlton]

22 hours ago, HHTel said:

I think that's been debunked.  I posted a statement from the WHO following my initial post which was only a few hour old.

The WHO director general is Tendros Adhanom a politician in the Ethiopian government. Also a member of the Tygrian Peoples Liberation front, long backed by communist China.

 

Ethiopia has seen massive investment by China and is currently in debt to them to the tune of $12bn. During the coronavirus outbreak, it has become clear that the WHO has put out misleading statements which seek to mitigate Chinese responsibility/ineptitude.

 

You cant believe a word the WHO is saying on this subject.

[Moo 2]

Is it safe to go swimming while a Tsunami is on its way?!