Here's how Thailand would respond to a 'worst case' coronavirus scenario

 

 

It has claimed the lives of thousands and infected many tens of thousands more. There are infections in 30 countries and 50 million people are in quarantine in China alone.

 

Reports of cover ups, panic, hysteria, mis-information and fake news have been shared around social media at what would appear to be a faster rate than actual infections have occurred. 

 

Despite all this, there is of course a reasonable possibility that the coronavirus will fade into obscurity in the coming months.

 

But what if it doesn’t?

 

What if the novel coronavirus, which causes a disease now officially known as Covid-19, explodes into a full blown pandemic?

 

How would Thailand cope and is it prepared for a worst case scenario?

 

On Thursday, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government is already making preparations in case the threat level from the coronavirus enters Phase 3 - its most severe stage.

 

In the event of a worst case scenario in Thailand, schools would be closed, office workers would be told to work from home and large public gatherings would be banned.

 

Military field hospitals would be set up in schools and special disaster recovery zones would be established in order to try and contain any further outbreak.

 

Military camps would also be closed, as would prisons, although it wasn’t immediately clear what would happen to prisoners if such a measure was taken.

 

Widespread cleaning operations would be carried out in places such as the BTS and MRT, while face masks would also be distributed to people in Thailand. 

 

Prime Minister Prayut added that suppliers are working over time to ensure there would be no shortage of face masks.

 

Thailand is currently in Phase 2 and in order for the Thai government to initiate Phase 3, 1,000 people per day would need to be infected with the coronavirus, Daily News reported. 

 

The PM stressed that the matters discussed were precautionary and there was no need for people in Thailand to be alarmed.

 

Health officials have so far done a good job containing the virus in Thailand, the PM said. However, the country needs to be prepared if the situation worsens.

Prime Minister Prayut also on Thursday denied there had been a cover up regarding the amount of coronavirus cases in Thailand.

 

The government has not hidden or distorted any information regarding the number of infections in Thailand, the PM tweeted.

 

The news comes after international academics on Wednesday questioned Thailand’s handling of the coronavirus situation, saying the number of reported cases seemed unusually low, considering the large number of Chinese tourists in the country.

 

In response, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the government had not hidden the truth regarding coronavirus and the low number of infections was due to the effective measures the government had put in place. 

 

In 2019, the Global Health Security Index found that Thailand is one of the countries best prepared to deal with an epidemic/pandemic.

 

The index found that only 13 countries had sufficient resources to put up a fight against a pandemic, with Thailand being one of them. 

 

The United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, were found to have the strongest measures in place to deal with an outbreak.
 
Thailand was ranked 6th overall, the highest ranking of any Asian country and also the highest ranking of any non ‘high income’ country. 

 

At the time of publishing, Thailand has reported 35 coronavirus infections, with 19 of those infected having made a full recovery and already been sent home. There have been no deaths from coronavirus in Thailand so far.
 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-02-22

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

A derogatory trolling post has been removed. 

_{The cheap alarm clock is trotted out again....}

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Here's how Thailand would respond to a 'worst case' coronavirus scenario

Deny, deny, deny.

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

The news comes after international academics on Wednesday questioned Thailand’s handling of the coronavirus situation, saying the number of reported cases seemed unusually low, considering the large number of Chinese tourists in the country.

 

In response, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the government had not hidden the truth regarding coronavirus and the low number of infections was due to the effective measures the government had put in place. 

When cornered questioned, I'm sure the Health Minister would blame foreigners for not wearing masks, and attempt to sue them. He'd never blame the Chinese - he doesn't have a death wish.

Well, there is no need to read such "article" ("scenario", "If", "plan", "fake news", "we would" etc.)

 

What matter are facts.

 

And here is the latest fact : "South Korea reports 142 new cases of coronavirus, raising country's total to 346"

 

And it's just 10 AM local time.

 

Oh and here is another fact : Shanghai has officially.... 334 cases.

 

You know the chinese megalopolis, 800 km from Wuhan ? I was not really sure you would know.

????

Edited February 22, 20206 yr by christophe75

4 minutes ago, christophe75 said:

Well, there is no need to read such "article" ("scenario", "If", "plan", "fake news", "we would" etc.)

 

What matter are facts.

 

And here is the latest fact : "South Korea reports 142 new cases of coronavirus, raising country's total to 346"

 

And it's just 10 AM local time.

 

Oh and here is another fact : Shanghai has officially.... 334 cases.

 

You know the chinese megalopolis, 800 km from Wuhan ? I was not really sure you would know.

????

  Do you have a link to the news source re: South Korea?

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Here's how Thailand would respond to a 'worst case' coronavirus scenario

 

They'll wait and do nothing....until they have orders from Beijing.

 

 

It appears the infections are prevalent only in hotspots, with the one in Korea being connected with a religious cult where the members have infected each other. Wuhan is of course a hotspot, but stringent containment measures have been put in

place. 
 

Most of the deaths seem to be of very old people and include those with significant pre existing conditions which have weakened them. In other years they may have succumbed to other flu infections.

 

With the Chinese travel ban, Thailand seems to have been protected from most infection sources so far. I can’t even get Lazada goods from China at the moment.

 

The daily death toll in Thailand is dwarfed by those killed in road collisions, so I am not sure what all the fuss is about. I think people are more worried about the effect on tourism rather than the next plague.

 

 

 

 

I'm still waiting on TAT figures of how much Chinese tourists will spend in Thailand this month and the projected figures for next month! Come on, TAT!

2 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

I'm still waiting on TAT figures of how much Chinese tourists will spend in Thailand this month and the projected figures for next month! Come on, TAT!

  Chinese tourists still in Thailand will probably spend more money trying to extend their visas than on any other expenditure.  

10 minutes ago, Classic Ray said:

The daily death toll in Thailand is dwarfed by those killed in road collisions, so I am not sure what all the fuss is about. I think people are more worried about the effect on tourism rather than the next plague.

I don't believe road deaths are exponentially infectios. I also believe  that Covid has the superior ability to bog down healthcare - which is the fundamental requirement to keep the deaths down to less than 0.5% and possibly allow deaths to rise to an intolerable degree.

47 minutes ago, TheAppletons said:

  Do you have a link to the news source re: South Korea?

 

Yes. One desk is doing a great job (press agency in the Netherlands, if i'm not mistaken).

 

https://twitter.com/BNODesk

 

Furthermore, they maintain the "tally"... Really perfect to follow quickly the situation (and to see, i repeat, the obvious BS coming from China, by train wagons ! Shanghai.... 334 cases... ahahhahahah)

 

https://bnonews.com/index.php/2020/02/the-latest-coronavirus-cases/

 

As for South Korea, they take the news from the south korean agency, Yonhap.

 

So this is solid. 

2 minutes ago, christophe75 said:

 

Yes. One desk is doing a great job (press agency in the Netherlands, if i'm not mistaken).

 

https://twitter.com/BNODesk

 

Furthermore, they maintain the "tally"... Really perfect to follow quickly the situation (and to see, i repeat, the obvious BS coming from China, by train wagons ! Shanghai.... 334 cases... ahahhahahah)

 

https://bnonews.com/index.php/2020/02/the-latest-coronavirus-cases/

 

As for South Korea, they take the news from the south korean agency, Yonhap.

 

So this is solid. 

  Thanks.  

10 minutes ago, TheAppletons said:

  Chinese tourists still in Thailand will probably spend more money trying to extend their visas than on any other expenditure.  

But won't they buy souvenirs too?

This plan appears to be for some China like crisis. I doubt that is what will happen at all.

 

The real trouble for Thailand is everyone from the wealthiest to the poorest do not obey the law. Law is inconvenient and made for others. That is the greatest danger for Thailand. Certainly not farang not wearing surgical masks.

The road deaths year on year with nothing done about it. The easily rectifiable air pollution issue. Both quite ironic in light.

 

“ In response, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the government had not hidden the truth regarding coronavirus and the low number of infections was due to the effective measures the government had put in place. “
 

I’m wondering what exactly  are the effective measures that were put in place .

2 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I’m wondering what exactly  are the effective measures that were put in place .

  Classifying infections as "Patients Under Investigation" and then never updating their condition.

It would be really good if governments and their organizations would be more honest about the state of affairs. I keep seeing that 50 Million people are in quarantine in China; but I did see one reporter the other day; who said the real number under quarantine in China is 750 Million. Every Major City, including Shanghai and Beijing have quarantines in place.

2 minutes ago, exparte said:

It would be really good if governments and their organizations would be more honest about the state of affairs. I keep seeing that 50 Million people are in quarantine in China; but I did see one reporter the other day; who said the real number under quarantine in China is 750 Million. Every Major City, including Shanghai and Beijing have quarantines in place.

  While I don't doubt that every major city in China has some sort of quarantine in place, I suspect that most places (outside of Hubei province and Wuhan city) are quarantining people who have the virus.

 

  It's difficult to believe that China has quarantined 75% of their entire population.

3 minutes ago, exparte said:

It would be really good if governments and their organizations would be more honest about the state of affairs. I keep seeing that 50 Million people are in quarantine in China; but I did see one reporter the other day; who said the real number under quarantine in China is 750 Million. Every Major City, including Shanghai and Beijing have quarantines in place.

If the  definition of  "quarantine" is as  much as possible a total travel ban then 750 million could be true.

Whereas the 50 million may be those who are barred from public movement/contact?

21 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

But won't they buy souvenirs too?

Supply chain problems with souvenirs as they're all made in China.

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

In the event of a worst case scenario in Thailand, schools would be closed, office workers would be told to work from home and large public gatherings would be banned.

What about immigration offices?

Does the health minister have any medical qualifications at all?

28 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

“ In response, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the government had not hidden the truth regarding coronavirus and the low number of infections was due to the effective measures the government had put in place. “
 

I’m wondering what exactly  are the effective measures that were put in place .

You're not the only one. Now TAT are encouraging Thais to travel domestically during the school break.

10 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

You're not the only one. Now TAT are encouraging Thais to travel domestically during the school break.

I’m wondering if those amulets really have magical powers ????

19 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Does the health minister have any medical qualifications at all?

What a stupid baiting question.

 

How many countries do you know where the health minister has medical qualifications?

1 hour ago, Classic Ray said:

It appears the infections are prevalent only in hotspots, with the one in Korea being connected with a religious cult where the members have infected each other. Wuhan is of course a hotspot, but stringent containment measures have been put in

place. 
 

Most of the deaths seem to be of very old people and include those with significant pre existing conditions which have weakened them. In other years they may have succumbed to other flu infections.

 

With the Chinese travel ban, Thailand seems to have been protected from most infection sources so far. I can’t even get Lazada goods from China at the moment.

 

The daily death toll in Thailand is dwarfed by those killed in road collisions, so I am not sure what all the fuss is about. I think people are more worried about the effect on tourism rather than the next plague.

 

 

 

 

These are wise words from Prayuth he has no doubt some good teams in place at an operational level and WHO will be providing expert advice. One has to hope for the best and prepare for the worse. I fear sadly the latter as this is a nasty, contagious virus that has wreaked havoc in China and now starting with Korea. The cruise ship has sadly shown how infectious this damn thing is which is highly. It is worth remembering that this thing was only born at the end of November and spreads similar a cold to which it is related but with considerable more deadly effects for some. Road deaths are a grim constant here but a virus can increase exponentially over time and it is early days outside of China at present. 

 

I did a microbiology degree  at university many years ago and did a course of epidemiology which seemed rather abstract and distant then studying how the world go through periodic pandemics. It feels very much less abstract now. I have no particular wisdom on this but I am trying to come to terms with the situation, follow the boring advice about hygiene etc, and not spending too much time every day thinking and reading about the topic if it causes too much mental anguish.

 

Maybe consider the possibility that if you have any travel and event plans for the coming months, they might be disrupted. Don't get carried away hoarding certain items, no panic buying or shelf stripping, but maybe consider slightly increasing the amount of spare supplies of certain things you keep at home.

Edited February 22, 20206 yr by URMySunshine

19 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Does the health minister have any medical qualifications at all?

I'm not sure if "goading foreigners" can be considered as medical, unless you count it as mental torture.

 

 

Where in Bangkok can someone pay to get tested for coronavirus?  How much does a test cost?