Thailand reports 28 new coronavirus cases, one more death

 

FILE PHOTO: Reuters

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand on Friday reported 28 new coronavirus cases and one more death, an 85-year-old woman who had other health complications.

 

Of the new cases, 16 were linked to previous cases, five had no links to old cases, and seven are awaiting investigation, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.

 

Since the outbreak escalated in January, Thailand has reported a total of 2,700 cases and 47 fatalities, while 1,689 patients have recovered and gone home.

 

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Kim Coghill)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-17

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28 new cases offer more proof Covid-19 curve flattening in Thailand

By The Nation

 

 

Thailand’s total number of Covid-19 patients rose to 2,700 with 28 new cases confirmed over a 24-hour period, while one more person died, Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman of the government's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said on Friday (April 17).

 

He said the number on Friday was the same as on Monday, the lowest in weeks. He added that 964  Covid-19 patients remained in hospitals, the first time it had gone under 1,000 in weeks, leaving many patient beds available.

 

Over the last nine days, the average number of new cases has stayed at around 34.

 

On April 9 there were 54 new cases, 50 on April 10, 45 on April 11, 33 on April 12, 28 on April 13, 34 on April 14, 30 on April 15, and 29 on April 16.

 

As of April 17, the total number of confirmed cases in the country stood at 2,700 -- 964 are under treatment, 1,689 have recovered and been discharged, and there have been 47 deaths.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30386205

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-04-17

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First Monday of May can lift the lockdown, it is impossible to have Zero at this time. Stay safe, everyone.

Steady as she goes, 28-29-28 over the last three days.

 

About 4 or 5 weeks ago, before the bars were closed and the lockdowns started,  I read an article (via this forum, I think) where one of the health experts here was saying that Thailand had a golden window of opportunity to contain the virus. He asked a simple question, do we want to act now so that we could be like Japan (which was seen to have the situation under control at the time), or would we dither and delay and end up like Italy? Kudos to the government, they acted and we've ended up with the situation looking like it's under control, so they sensibly chose Japan not Italy.

 

But what worries me now is that Japan appears to have lost control of matters, with a state of emergency being declared and concerns that Tokyo's hospitals will be overwhelmed. I hope the Thai government is asking its experts what went wrong in Japan, and how do we prevent that from happening here? If they're going to start reopening the economy in a fortnight we really need to know the answer to that question.

 

Then why are lockdowns and restrictions increasing when many countries hit much harder than Thailand are planning opening up?

Number of tests per day?

Number of PUI in probable cases?

Number of tests and positives in private hospitals?

Number of deaths in comparison to earlier years?

Number of PUIs in pending test queue?

Number of people wanting to get tested but rejected due to being asymptomatic or otherwise not fitting PUI criteria?

Number of people turned away from hospitals because they are full?

 

Yeah, didn't think so.

Edited April 17, 20206 yr by DrTuner

Good news. Even when the lockdown is lifted, the pubs, bars, restaurants, massage centers, shopping malls should be under lockdown for some more time. 

18 minutes ago, saakura said:

Good news. Even when the lockdown is lifted, the pubs, bars, restaurants, massage centers, shopping malls should be under lockdown for some more time. 

So everything still on lockdown then ? What you are talking about is lifting the curfew hours which wouldn't make any difference.

All shops, stores, restaurants should be allowed to re-open again while maintaining social distancing measures however entertainment venues (boxing stadiums and nightclubs)  should remain closed for the time being.

In my home coundry Finland just open our capitol area from lockdown. There has now recorded 2038 infected people. In capitol area!

But doctors take blood test from people who have not get symtoms to covid-19. 

They find antidote from 3,4 % from blood test's. Ok not so many blood test was taken , but anyway they estimate in that area can be 50000-170000 infected people. 1.3 million living in that area. 

If somebody now want FACT or link, im happy to do that if you can read Finnish lol.

Ok but my point is . Also people who not feel sick still spread virus. So remember social distance .

Edited April 17, 20206 yr by 2 is 1

20 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Number of tests per day?

Number of PUI in probable cases?

Number of tests and positives in private hospitals?

Number of deaths in comparison to earlier years?

Number of PUIs in pending test queue?

Number of people wanting to get tested but rejected due to being asymptomatic or otherwise not fitting PUI criteria?

Number of people turned away from hospitals because they are full?

 

Yeah, didn't think so.

 

 

It is NOT the EXPONENTIAL growth of infected and death that all the doubters have been talking or noting or dreaming about.   

 

Given the sample size in testing is almost same everyday,    It is NOT the jump from  35 to 70 to 120 to 220 to 390 ........    that so many, possibly including yourself have predicted.  

 

 

The lock down and social distancing are OK.  Better doing it than NOT. 

What I am more concerned is there had been few odd days in recent week that the temperature had came down with cloudy/rainy days  here in Jomtien/Pattaya.  

 

 

 

46 minutes ago, Thailand said:

Then why are lockdowns and restrictions increasing when many countries hit much harder than Thailand are planning opening up?

Precautionary measures. 10 to 15 days from now there could potentially be a spike in cases caused by those who were foolish enough to travel home to their families for Songkran. 

56 minutes ago, Guderian said:

 

But what worries me now is that Japan appears to have lost control of matters, with a state of emergency being declared and concerns that Tokyo's hospitals will be overwhelmed. I hope the Thai government is asking its experts what went wrong in Japan, and how do we prevent that from happening here? If they're going to start reopening the economy in a fortnight we really need to know the answer to that question.

 

Good points, Japan did a tremendous job in containing the first wave but are now learning hard lessons about the reasons for the second wave taking over. 

 

After the Daegu outbreak, the South Korean government began a massive testing program to try and track the epidemic. Japan has done the opposite.

 

"We are in the middle of an explosive phase of the outbreak," 

"The major lesson to take from Hokkaido is that even if you are successful in the containment the first time around, it's difficult to isolate and maintain the containment for a long period. Unless you expand the testing capacity, it's difficult to identify community transmission and hospital transmission."

 

This is the statement that worries me most from Japan: Initially, the government said it was because large-scale testing was a "waste of resources" It's now had to change its tune a bit and says it will ramp up testing

 

Exactly the same rhetoric coming from Taweesin Visanuyothin and parroted by a couple of posters on TVF that its not economically viable to mass test.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52305055

Edited April 17, 20206 yr by Bkk Brian
link added

55 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Number of tests per day?

Number of PUI in probable cases?

Number of tests and positives in private hospitals?

Number of deaths in comparison to earlier years?

Number of PUIs in pending test queue?

Number of people wanting to get tested but rejected due to being asymptomatic or otherwise not fitting PUI criteria?

Number of people turned away from hospitals because they are full?

 

Yeah, didn't think so.

<deleted> broken record!

50 minutes ago, sscc said:

Given the sample size in testing is almost same everyday,    It is NOT the jump from  35 to 70 to 120 to 220 to 390 ........    that so many, possibly including yourself have predicted.  

With the PUI criteria that is the prerequisite for getting tested restricting all but very select groups out, it won't be.

 

Information stops at the very first hurdle, set up by MoPH.

https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/file/guidelines/G_PUIdefinition.pdf

Edited April 17, 20206 yr by DrTuner
grammar

1324`

16 minutes ago, Aland said:

<deleted> broken record!

As are these daily "reports". Yin & yang. Somebody's got to do it.

I really hope these numbers are reflective of things getting better here. I really hope this isn’t so the lockdown can end sooner to get the economy going because funds are low. 
 

Thailand can’t afford this lockdown. Not many counties can. But what it really can’t afford is to have to do this again. 

25 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

This is the statement that worries me most from Japan: Initially, the government said it was because large-scale testing was a "waste of resources" It's now had to change its tune a bit and says it will ramp up testing

 

Exactly the same rhetoric coming from Taweesin Visanuyothin and parroted by a couple of posters on TVF that its not economically viable to mass test.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52305055

And mass testing, contact tracing and use of big data are imperative for controlled opening of the lockdowns. Here, thanks to no testing, it will be a forced opening as people run out of money and food.

 

All could have been avoided, if there was a functioning government:

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-the-hammer-and-the-dance-be9337092b56

5 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

I really hope these numbers are reflective of things getting better here. I really hope this isn’t so the lockdown can end sooner to get the economy going because funds are low. 

I don't share that hope. It looks exactly like these are aimed to justify opening the lockdowns because the government is not willing to open the trough.

1 hour ago, Thailand said:

Then why are lockdowns and restrictions increasing when many countries hit much harder than Thailand are planning opening up?

Because they don't care what the human cost is. Dr. Oz was on that horrible state propaganda tv station saying "Schools are a very appetizing opportunity. I just saw a nice piece in The Lancet arguing the opening of schools may only cost us 2 to 3%, in terms of total mortality."

 

How in ANY normal universe is it acceptable to lose 2-3% of a country's children for the sake of money? Are we really turning into a "Hunger Game" world?

1 minute ago, J Town said:

Are we really turning into a "Hunger Game" world?

Yes, but it's the old battling it out, not the young. At least not yet.

Just now, DrTuner said:

Yes, but it's the old battling it out, not the young. At least not yet.

Not when it's being suggested to send the youngun's back to school, and that we MAY only lose 2-3% (who will bring it back to their respective families).

Just now, J Town said:

Not when it's being suggested to send the youngun's back to school, and that we MAY only lose 2-3% (who will bring it back to their respective families).

Ugh ok that was the young. Just plain wrong.

5 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

I don't share that hope. It looks exactly like these are aimed to justify opening the lockdowns because the government is not willing to open the trough.

Yeap, it is worrying. I remember 4 days into the lockdown the numbers going down and someone in the government saying the lockdown is working. 4 days into a lockdown was way too soon for any significant numbers to drop. 

Have to say I don't remember all these infected Thai Health workers mentioned in daily statistics?

 

At least 102 healthcare workers in Thailand have been infected with Covid-19, sending their hospitals into partial lockdown and suspending most services for up to 14 days. With grim statistics like these, it is clear bolder steps are urgently needed to protect medical personnel during the outbreak.

 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/15/protect-medical-workers-thailand-covid-19

Just now, rkidlad said:

4 days into a lockdown was way too soon for any significant numbers to drop. 

Yes.

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

 

It's about 2 weeks to have an effect. Of course if you don't test, you won't get those diagnosis numbers. At least not publically.

2 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Yes.

https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca

 

It's about 2 weeks to have an effect. Of course if you don't test, you won't get those diagnosis numbers. At least not publically.

And I see Wuhan has revised its death toll and added 1300 more dead. While at the same time, Belgium say they have so many cases and deaths of covid because they’re being completely transparent.

 

 

14 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Have to say I don't remember all these infected Thai Health workers mentioned in daily statistics?

They are more likely to be included than others, as they have a more permissive PUI admission criteria. 

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/eng/file/guidelines/G_CPG_en.pdf

Edited April 17, 20206 yr by DrTuner

I'm guessing they aren't revealing the locations of these new cases for a reason ?

Maybe so some can justify a lockdown even though there doesn't seem to have been any new infections in weeks ? 

Might help if people knew that (x) infections happened in/around (y) location. I find it interesting when they note new infections that have apparently sprang out of nowhere (i.e. no contact with known infected, no travel anywhere, no reasonable explanation for how they got infected).

Sometimes it reminds me of Season 1 of The Walking Dead when they get to the CDC in Atlanta and Rick has a private conversation with the lone surviving scientist, who tells him that his tests have confirmed - everyone already has the virus in them. 

(Plot hole of course - if everyone is already infected, then why does getting bitten by a zombie cause them to get sick and die and then come back ? Not to mention how they still love to slather themselves in supposedly infected zombie guts (or wear their skins) without any of the goo getting into their system amazingly.)

I say that because, there seems to be a lot of "new" cases popping up where they don't seem to know how/when/where the person got infected. I've noticed this in the news in other places as well. Like when they come out and say a person in this small town has tested positive and you're wondering - just one ? How is that possible ? Especially when there's no news of new infections cropping up in the same area.

So long as those who've died don't get up again........

7 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

I'm guessing they aren't revealing the locations of these new cases for a reason ?

https://hdcservice.moph.go.th/hdc/main/index.php

 

Province level, at least something.

 

You'll notice the hotspots are BKK and surroundings, Chonburi (Pattaya), Chiang Mai and Phuket. No big surprise. A bit surprised about the provinces bordering Malaysia. That bad down there?

 

The working solution would be South Korea model. Test, test, test, publish, publish, track, track. Not going to happen here unless they ask help to organize it from the South Koreans and forget about face.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/16/world/coronavirus-response-lessons-learned-intl/index.html

Edited April 17, 20206 yr by DrTuner