Thailand confirms 33 new COVID-19 infections, 147 cases in total

[MASSMAN]

While this virus continues to spread in Thailand, the very hazardous burning continues in the North.  I mention this in connection to the virus because the massive amount of smoke must be weakening the immune systems of people in these areas.  People with weak immune systems are more likely to die from the virus than are those people with strong immune systems. It would make sense for the government to stop the burning in coordination with minimising the spread of the virus.  But this will not happen because This Is Thailand.

[Orton Rd]

1 hour ago, Timwin said:

That is actually good news. The spreading is not exploding the same way as in northern countries. It is the hot&humid&UV lowering the R0 down. 

Trebled in a week, does not seem that good looks more like it's taking off

[MikeyScars]

My Japanese friend said there was an article that a Japanese National from Kobe was infected with the virus after returning from Thailand.  He was in Thailand (did not say which city, I am assuming Bangkok) from 2/24 through 3/4, and started having a symptom on 3/6, and was confirmed to have the virus on 3/16.

 

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200316-18002201-kantelev-l28

 

Use google translate. 

[androokery]

3 minutes ago, MASSMAN said:

While this virus continues to spread in Thailand, the very hazardous burning continues in the North.  I mention this in connection to the virus because the massive amount of smoke must be weakening the immune systems of people in these areas.  People with weak immune systems are more likely to die from the virus than are those people with strong immune systems. It would make sense for the government to stop the burning in coordination with minimising the spread of the virus.  But this will not happen because This Is Thailand.

I have this weird mental image, based on no amount of science at all, that the pm2.5 particles and the Coronavirus are competing for the same parts of my lungs. Enough of the pm2.5’s means there’s no place for the virus to attach itself. I don’t believe in it, but the image is still there. 

[androokery]

17 minutes ago, Wongkitlo said:

Bacterial and virus travel from one person to the other via moisture in the air. If there is no moisture in the air it is harder for it to transfer. That  is why when it is cold and raining people get  colds etc. I have trouble telling but where I am it seems to be hot  and not overly humid which hopefully will cut down on infections. Naturally air conditioning in public places creates lots of moisture in the air which would be a great environment for transfer.

I think you’ll find that air conditioning actually removes moisture. That’s sort of how it works. Or do you mean on the other side, i.e. the moisture is just pumped elsewhere?

[Brigand]

Coronavirus isn't just floating around in the air, it's on surfaces and can survive for a few days apparently. This is why the face mask thing is rubbish. Unless someone sneezes in your direction or next to you, they are little use other than giving you psychological comfort that you are trying to protect yourself and doing what the herd is also (plus they are designed to stop you spreading something to others).

Most people, it appears, are infected from touching stuff/sharing stuff and then touching their faces. It gets in through your nose, mouth and eyes. Wash hands and don't touch your face is the best thing you can do. Face masks should be reserved for health workers etc. and folks should be encouraged to wipe down commonly used things with antiseptics.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Brigand
Typos

[DrTuner]

21 minutes ago, zydeco said:

There is this: https://www.zerohedge.com/health/covid-19-sun-lesson-1918-influenza-pandemic   Smarter people than me will have to decide whether it makes sense or not.

Unfortunately fresh air is in short supply in Thailand thanks to the PM2.5 which is likely to aggravate lung infections. 

 

On interesting thing to see is, if there are quarantines and lockdowns, will the field burning finally stop. That would help with the PM2.5.

[Bkk Brian]

9 minutes ago, MikeyScars said:

My Japanese friend said there was an article that a Japanese National from Kobe was infected with the virus after returning from Thailand.  He was in Thailand (did not say which city, I am assuming Bangkok) from 2/24 through 3/4, and started having a symptom on 3/6, and was confirmed to have the virus on 3/16.

 

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200316-18002201-kantelev-l28

 

Use google translate. 

This a large growing list of positive cases being detected travelling from Thailand 

 

South China’s Guangdong Province reported three new imported #COVID19 cases on Sunday; the three patients arrived from the Philippines; Thailand and Switzerland, respectively.

https://twitter.com/globaltimesnews/status/1239172625143721984?s=20

[Tayaout]

9 minutes ago, androokery said:

I have this weird mental image, based on no amount of science at all, that the pm2.5 particles and the Coronavirus are competing for the same parts of my lungs. Enough of the pm2.5’s means there’s no place for the virus to attach itself. I don’t believe in it, but the image is still there. 

Apparently smoking increase the amount of ACE2 receptors in the lung. The virus use these receptors to attach itself. 

[androokery]

3 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

Apparently smoking increase the amount of ACE2 receptors in the lung. The virus use these receptors to attach itself. 

So there’s no West Side Story’esque gang fight going on in my lungs between the PMs and the CVs? It’s more like the PMs are the pathfinders for the landing of the CVs?

[NCC1701A]

I have seen this graph circulating for days. A doctor in Hat Yai asked out loud why there has been an unusual spike in pneumonia cases in Thailand in recent weeks, while the number of official #COVID19 cases has remained low (until recent days). Many have wondered the same.

 

https://twitter.com/Thai_Talk/status/1239530795611504642

 

[rabang]

12 minutes ago, Brigand said:

Coronavirus isn't just floating around in the air, it's on surfaces and can survive for a few days apparently. This is why the face mask thing is rubbish. Unless someone sneezes in your direction or next to you, they are little use other than giving you psychological comfort that you are trying to protect yourself and doing what the herd is also (plus they are designed to stop you spreading something to others).

Most people, it appears, are infected from touching stuff/sharing stuff and then touching their faces. It gets in through your nose, mouth and eyes. Wash hands and don't touch your face is the best thing you can do. Face masks should be reserved for health workers etc. and folks should be encouraged to wipe down commonly used things with antiseptics.

Even if the masks worked many don't care or know about the most important part, that is hygiene. They remove the mask, touch it and their face, stick a finger in their nose, mouth, whatever hole, don't wash their hands etc. Many are still equally disgusting with their lack of hygiene as before this virus.

Edited March 16, 2020 by rabang

[rabas]

5 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

I have seen this graph circulating for days. A doctor in Hat Yai asked out loud why there has been an unusual spike in pneumonia cases in Thailand in recent weeks, while the number of official #COVID19 cases has remained low (until recent days). Many have wondered the same.

 

https://twitter.com/Thai_Talk/status/1239530795611504642

 

This graph is the current COVID19  PUI cases that are being reported here. https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/situation.php but the graph was labelled pneumonia.

 

I know this because I compared the numbers day by day some time back. The slight drop was because of a reporting change by the government.  Thus, this is not the graph of interest, I would like to see Thailand's yearly true pneumonia cases and compare this year with previous years.

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, rabas said:

This graph is the current COVID19  PUI cases that are being reported here. https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/situation.php but the graph was labelled pneumonia.

 

I know this because I compared the numbers day by day some time back. The slight drop was because of a reporting change by the government.  Thus, this is not the graph of interest, I would like to see Thailand's yearly true pneumonia cases and compare this year with previous years.

Yes a comparison would be useful, the only thing I can find is the list from 2017 but that includes Flu and pneumonia.

 

According to the latest WHO data published in 2017 Influenza and Pneumonia Deaths in Thailand reached 60,321 or 12.04% of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 69.87 per 100,000 of population ranks Thailand #57 in the world. Review other causes of death by clicking the links below or choose the full health profile.

https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/thailand-influenza-pneumonia

[NCC1701A]

This is the letter sent out to parents by Bangkok Patana international school. They expect an official announcement by the Thai government tomorrow and then the school closed from Wednesday. Other schools have already sent out letters or will soon #Thailand #COVID19

 

https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/1239526783373971456

[NCC1701A]

No big news from the PM during his address to the nation. Advised people to work together, avoid crowds, don’t travel unnecessarily, don’t share cutlery, wear masks if sick, don’t panic buy etc. He also asked people not to share fake news #Thailand @COVID19

 

https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/1239525329305325568

[rabas]

25 minutes ago, androokery said:

So there’s no West Side Story’esque gang fight going on in my lungs between the PMs and the CVs? It’s more like the PMs are the pathfinders for the landing of the CVs?

No there isn't. It's more like Steve McQueen in the movie The Great Escape. The PM2.5 particle is the motorcycle, Steve is the covid19 and the barrier is the path into your lungs.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ccVu992CYE

Edited March 16, 2020 by rabas

[jackdd]

55 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

As long as all cases can be tied to another  known case or to someone arriving from abroad it is reassuring. It is when you start having cases cropping up that can't be explained as imported or that have no known connection to an already known case that things have progressed to the next level.

I guess that they only test people with known connections to infected persons. If they would test more random people they would probably find infected persons who don't have such clear connections.

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, DLock said:

The only reason South Korea and China contained the virus, was free and convenient testing and tracing contacts. They were testing 20,000 per day.

 

Thailand's testing is expensive and inconvenient...and slow.

 

When/If Thailand gets serious about Corona and starts testing properly, it will explode. All we are seeing now is the tip of the iceberg of those who paid or forced to get tested.

 

They walk amongst us.

China stopped mass testing on request and went to clinical diagnosis. That was when their spike happened, around 14th Feb. Testing is to slow to do it en masse, Stay with the PUI system. Test them only. Anything else is a waste of time, money and resources that could be  better used,

[Neeranam]

Just heard from doctor at Rayong provincial hospital -  400 cases been tested positive.

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Trebled in a week, does not seem that good looks more like it's taking off

They've still got less than HK who are still importing a few a day because people heading for mainland China after landing in HK and being told they're going into a quarantine hotel at the border are turning back and waiting in HK for two weeks.

 

The Thai tracing seems good too, they seem to know where every case originated. That's key. Plus still only one death.

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, Brigand said:

Coronavirus isn't just floating around in the air, it's on surfaces and can survive for a few days apparently. This is why the face mask thing is rubbish. Unless someone sneezes in your direction or next to you, they are little use other than giving you psychological comfort that you are trying to protect yourself and doing what the herd is also (plus they are designed to stop you spreading something to others).

Most people, it appears, are infected from touching stuff/sharing stuff and then touching their faces. It gets in through your nose, mouth and eyes. Wash hands and don't touch your face is the best thing you can do. Face masks should be reserved for health workers etc. and folks should be encouraged to wipe down commonly used things with antiseptics.

There are no reported cases of surface to person contagion. Theoretically it is acknowledged but all the documented cases are person to person.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Sorry to bring up a bit of a morbid subject, but does Thailand even have the capacity to deal with hundreds or maybe even thousands of daily infected bodies?

Low temperature cremation at temples is slow and also not ideal for dealing with this kind of situation.

After the 2004 tsunami bodies were stored for months in refrigerated containers, although that might have been due to slow identification of bodies.

 

[bkkatl]

2 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Or it's been stirring all the time and some other unknown variable has caused the epidemic to slow down. The weather argument does have merits, but I'm still not fully convinced. Will need to wait and see again for more information.

It's starting to warm up in America and the cases are coming more rapidly. Warm weather states like Florida and So. Cal aren't immune. At the end of summer, Pneumonia cases will spike because the virus/bacteria has been festering in the warm weather. Just a few observations from my time watching TV medical dramas. 

[Brigand]

19 minutes ago, Traubert said:

There are no reported cases of surface to person contagion. Theoretically it is acknowledged but all the documented cases are person to person.

Might want to watch this then man.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/health-51881555/coronavirus-do-face-masks-actually-work

[DLock]

38 minutes ago, Traubert said:

China stopped mass testing on request and went to clinical diagnosis. That was when their spike happened, around 14th Feb. Testing is to slow to do it en masse, Stay with the PUI system. Test them only. Anything else is a waste of time, money and resources that could be  better used,

South Korea is a better model...and testing was key to their containment.

 

Thailand's number are probably 10, 20, 50 times higher than documented, but because testing is expensive and inconvenient, a no test results cannot be called Covid-19.

 

Thailand has been covering up, lying and hope it went away. It didn't and we are about to see the truth...

[DLock]

30 minutes ago, Traubert said:

They've still got less than HK who are still importing a few a day because people heading for mainland China after landing in HK and being told they're going into a quarantine hotel at the border are turning back and waiting in HK for two weeks.

 

The Thai tracing seems good too, they seem to know where every case originated. That's key. Plus still only one death.

 

Please.

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Trebled in a week, does not seem that good looks more like it's taking off

 

As I said last week, now that the focus ("epicentre") has moved to the West, and attention drawn away from Thailand, they are merely owning up to infections that they would have  previously disguised as "PUI".

 

Their percentages/rates will soon look more "realistic" vis a vis Western countries less prone to censorship.

 

They feel they have saved "face" by their deception.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by Enoon

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, DrTuner said:

 

DDC seems to keep this graph updated better than the English language reports themselves. It's from here: https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/situation.php

 

2331 admitted, 232 at home being monitored.

 

That 1 poor soul has been in severe state for what, over a month now?

 

Except their graphic that's dated today (March 16) doesn't include the additional 33 cases they announced this afternoon... And I'm looking at their website tonight as of 9 pm, many hours after today's announcement, and they still haven't updated the live graphic...

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Brigand said:

Coronavirus isn't just floating around in the air, it's on surfaces and can survive for a few days apparently. This is why the face mask thing is rubbish. Unless someone sneezes in your direction or next to you, they are little use other than giving you psychological comfort that you are trying to protect yourself and doing what the herd is also (plus they are designed to stop you spreading something to others).

Most people, it appears, are infected from touching stuff/sharing stuff and then touching their faces. It gets in through your nose, mouth and eyes. Wash hands and don't touch your face is the best thing you can do. Face masks should be reserved for health workers etc. and folks should be encouraged to wipe down commonly used things with antiseptics.

 

There seems to be a lot of conflicting info on the transmission issue you've raised above. I'm pretty sure I've read some scientific articles out of China that suggest airborne transmission (sneezes, coughing, even just breathing by those infected) is believed to be the primary means of transmission, far more than touching surfaces.