Thailand's tourism minister: Everything will be fine after Songkran - the hot weather will blow the virus away!

[AnthonyJM]

He is actually quite right. Most international medical opinion agrees Covid-19 cannot withstand heat, light and humidity. The summer months (in the Northern Hemisphere) will burn it out. 

[WalkingOrders]

Thank God the snow is melting.

[sambum]

41 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

What qualifications does Matt Hancock have? I'll save you the trouble of looking it up - he's an economist running the health service in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/people/matthew-hancock

 

And apparently he's done an absolutely wonderful job!  Oh, and "The NHS is safe in our hands"? However, nothing at all to do with this post!

[Shiver]

Both France and Germany have a vaccine, and they're in a race to be the first to get FDA clearance expedited.

 

Novavax, Inc. (NVAX)

[raccos21]

How did he come up with this kind of fact? Does he promoted to be tourism cum infectiology minister now?

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by metisdead
Trolling image removed.

[WhyamIhere]

Not to worry...the wind, warmth, new vaccine, and the Songkran water will completely obliterate the Covid-19 virus! Got to love this guy.

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by WhyamIhere
Choice of word

[GeorgeCross]

meanwhile in other news:

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/covid-19-expected-to-be-designated-dangerous-infectious-disease-today-anutin/

 

contained my a§§
 

[Curt1591]

All these "ministers" wade around is a sea of their own rhetoric. I wonder if some of them actually begin to believe it. 

 

Heck! After a couple days in a hotel, where  I get BBC or CNN as my only news source, I begin to think "Orange man bad!" ????

[Enigmatist]

Wow. I think he's quoting a recent statement by the US president. 

Totally in fantasyland.

The COVID virus is currently THRIVING in the human body with an average temperature range of 36.2C - 37C, hell it may even cause your body temperature to soar to 38C when your fever hits.

Temperatures in Thailand rarely get above that in most locales.

Sterilisation through steam requires 132C+ to have any effect, dry sterilisation requires 160C+!!! How hot does he think it is gonna be in April/Songkran??

Ok, Even IF the COVID virus was THE WEAKEST virus ever and the temperature managed to exceed the 38C 'fevered' body maximum, and the virus somehow uniquely susceptible....that is still yet to be determined. 

It is nigh impossible that the hottest weather in Thailand will have any effect.

Isolation and hygiene are the only solution. Most viruses survive only a short time outside of a host, generally 12-48 hours. This virus is said to be droplet spread, sneeze or cough into your sleeve. Wash hands when you return from going outside. Do not rub your eyes with your hands, a fresh tissue can suffice. Carry on.

 

[AAArdvark]

He is absolutely correct.  Anything over the boiling point will kill the virus.  I just don't know if the water guns will work with water that hot.

[metisdead]

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[Brer]

The sinister might also think the northern mating season might be contributing too and as they move to summer there will be less mouth to mouth.

He might have a degree in Astro navigation of viruses in warmer climates, he certainly is a very clever man.

 

[Enigmatist]

Oh, and the masks? ... only a little useful if you already have the COVID virus, as maybe a diffuser when coughing or sneezing droplets towards others. This virus is spread in exactly the same way as the regular flu virus. Wearing a mask yourself, unless the right grade and fitted correctly, provide almost zero protection. Regular OTC masks commonly sold as air pollutant filters, still allow respiration of virus particles through the fabric from droplets on the exterior. If someone sneezes in your direction, stop breathing, remove mask, discard immediately and wear another one.

Kissing is also a great way to spread the virus, Valentine's probably didn't help???? 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Enigmatist
Typos

[JAG]

Do these chaps in the James Bond villain outfits go on some sort of a special course? I mean, no-one could come out with this sort of nonsense naturally!

[christophe75]

23 minutes ago, Enigmatist said:

Ok, Even IF the COVID virus was THE WEAKEST virus ever and the temperature managed to exceed the 38C 'fevered' body maximum, and the virus somehow uniquely susceptible....that is still yet to be determined. 

It is nigh impossible that the hottest weather in Thailand will have any effect.

Isolation and hygiene are the only solution. 

 

 

I've tried several times here to explain that a Hyatt Hotel has the same "indoor environment" (temperature and humidity) whatever the latitude/longitude and whatever the "season" outdoor.

 

And that Singapore said after a proper investigation, that 10 people were infected during a conference... in the Hyatt Hotel, where 109 people attended.

????

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/coronavirus-full-recovery-for-all-three-local-cases-from-grand-hyatt-cluster

 

But still... no "click" inside the brain.

 

Like the ad... "What else ?" ????

 

But hey, anyway, the pandemic is already over. Said the Chinese... So who cares ?

[Andre0720]

Oh good. Privileged knowledge. I would also wish to know for certain if the end of the world prediction will happen in this lifetime or not...

[LEZZA]

Is this guy ... fair dinkum ....     hot weather ... the mind boggles

[Millcx]

This is beyond reality now .... People have no idea what a virus like this can do if it is allowed to become a Panademic

money will mean nothing... Food will be scare or inedible and it will become a dog eat dog scenario for survival

if the strain mutates then god save us all

Thai borders should have been closed weeks ago

[emptypockets]

1 hour ago, sambum said:

And apparently he's done an absolutely wonderful job!  Oh, and "The NHS is safe in our hands"? However, nothing at all to do with this post!

I was responding to the predictable Thai bash saying the Thai heath minister does not have a medical background.

[TKDfella]

Apart from the Rhinovirus some of the Corona viruses are responsible for the common 'cold' which usually peaks in winter time; so some doctors are hoping this will be case here. However, since this 'new' virus has not been seen before no one CAN know for certain how it will react to hot weather conditions. The current hypothesis is that during cold months the air becomes more dry because moisture elevation is lower. Viruses then float more easily and for longer hence increasing the risk of infection. However, this hypothesis does have opposition so it is not an established theory. Heat sensitive viruses have an outer membrane that breaks down above a certain temperature but...When an infected person sneezes or coughs there will be many millions of viruses being expelled and the heat will affect the outermost viruses first leaving others to survive a bit longer.

In short, we don't have all the answers about infection from viruses (if we did there would be no cause to worry) and the best strategy is to be prepared for further out breaks. Telling people the summer will blow it away is hardly the sensible thing to do.

[Bundooman]

3 hours ago, Foxy52 said:

If COVID-19 cannot tolerate hot weather, how come Singapore has so many cases?

And not only that - if you google the great Influenza of 1919 you can start by reading, I quote,

 

"Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world's population became infected with this virus"

 

The virus died out in December 1920.'

The weather was irrelevant.

I wouldn't believe anything this guy was saying.

[peter48]

Thailand seemingly with numbers  well below most other countries both in the East and West  that’s looking good. 

[Raphael54]

Sorry, but the number of credible persons in this government can be counted on 1 finger.

[baipaibkk]

Problem is, he believes what he talk

[harriott456]

So does anyone one commenting here know of anyone thats got or had this? The common flu is worse and kills more annually....all media BS 

[sirineou]

2 hours ago, sambum said:

I see the words "assumption" and "hope" and think  - nobody KNOWS!

Of course nobody knows because hot weather is not here yet. The minister's of tourism job is to promote tourism, of course he would sound more confident.he is doing his job.   But The Thai tourism minister is not the only one who says the above.

Are you all willing to jump down their throat also or do you all reserves such contempt only for Thais? 

Trump said it.

UK’s health secretary, Matt Hancock said it

Paul Hunter at the University of East Anglia, said it

Anthony Fauci said it

etc etc. 

 

 

R

[Mister Fixit]

And after finishing that speech he removed his tongue from his cheek.

 

[jayjay2001]

Abstract
A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 and has caused over 40,000 cases worldwide to date. Previous studies have supported an epidemiological hypothesis that cold and dry (low absolute humidity) environments facilitate the survival and spread of droplet-mediated viral diseases, and warm and humid (high absolute humidity) environments see attenuated viral transmission (i.e., influenza). However, the role of absolute humidity in transmission of COVID-19 has not yet been established. Here, we examine province-level variability of the basic reproductive numbers of COVID-19 across China and find that changes in weather alone (i.e., increase of temperature and humidity as spring and summer months arrive in the North Hemisphere) will not necessarily lead to declines in COVID-19 case counts without the implementation of extensive public health interventions.

 

From https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.12.20022467v1

 

[medRxiv was founded by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), a not-for-profit research and educational institution, Yale University, and BMJ, a global healthcare knowledge provider.]

 

 

[Forza2002]

Singapore has a similar climate to Thailand and it has nearly 100 confirmed cases of the virus. Also it closed its borders to Chinese travelers more than 3 weeks ago. Thailand only reporting 35 cases, very dubious to say the least.

[metisdead]

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