12 hours ago, mark131v said:

I believe people who die are not routinely tested. That's the reason for low number...

I wasn't aware that testing stopped people dying.

It is a bit academic what the cause of death is.

In 2020, unlike other countries, in particular the so called major economies, the total number of deaths in Thailand is not much more than normal.

11 hours ago, Phulublub said:

But it is  not just deaths though, is it?  Are the hospitals overrun?

Prior to covid, most hospitals appeared to be overrun, if Thais are given a mid morning appointment they still turn up at opening time.

In the post lockdown period the hospitals I went to were deserted by comparison, been a few times in the last few weeks and slowly getting back to normal.

My niece was a junior doctor at a fairly big government hospital in Bangkok and they had very few cases and no deaths. She had to self isolate back in March when a colleague tested positive.

14 hours ago, Mike k said:

That should get them prison time 

Let's hope so. they need to be taught a lesson

14 minutes ago, sandyf said:

the total number of deaths in Thailand is not much more than normal.

 

Can you share any details?

 

~ 45,000 people die here each year from pneumonia/lower-respiratory infections. In the top 5 for deaths here.

 

Excess death figures would be great to examine. Not sure they're available?

 

 

 

14 minutes ago, sandyf said:

I wasn't aware that testing stopped people dying.

 

Testing allows you to identify outbreaks and deal with them. Dealing and controlling outbreaks can reduce deaths.

 

 

Question is, if a vaccine is produced in Thailand will it be administered for free to all residents or only Thai nationals?

No one sane and with IQ higher then 10 can take this information seriously. 

15 hours ago, Phulublub said:

But it is  not just deaths though, is it?  Are the hospitals overrun?

 

Even if there is underreporting, do you honestly think that in the era of social media (and when have you not seen a Thai with their head stuck in their mobile?) the Government could keep widespread infection a secret for ten months?

 

PH

Thais are blabber mouths up in the villages. If someone's got the stiffles I'm sure the health department will find out about it. Nothing can be covered up here. Just look at the students protests. Even the threat of lese majeste they don't care. They will talk. 

Regular flu levels must be very low at the moment - I've only had a couple of students absent all year. I don't even think they had the flu. Normally, sudents would be absent every week with illness. The same has been observd in Australia - "if you are sick, you probably have covid", was what one of the Victorian health personnel said. 

4 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Can you share any details?

 

~ 45,000 people die here each year from pneumonia/lower-respiratory infections. In the top 5 for deaths here.

 

Excess death figures would be great to examine. Not sure they're available?

 

 

 

 

Testing allows you to identify outbreaks and deal with them. Dealing and controlling outbreaks can reduce deaths.

 

 

2% higher than the average back in April. That is witin the bounds of normal variation in the numbers (only the average over the past several years is shown, but not the raw data though. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-53073046 The UK was up to 43% higher. 

 

21 hours ago, mark131v said:

My wife has just mentioned her mum and some other family members are very unwell with a cough and a fever, I asked if she was going to get a covid test done:

 

'no need because it's the cold season she always get's sick due to the cold weather'

 

That in a nutshell is the Thai response, nobody gets a test either through lack of finance or fear of being locked in quarantine rather than working

 

Hospitals are quick to blame covid type s&s as a cold, flu, dengue, pneumonia, anything but covid

 

I believe people who die are not routinely tested. That's the reason for low number...

really sorry to hear that. I hope they make a quick recovery! 

On 11/30/2020 at 9:37 PM, paulbj2 said:

It is as Trump pointed out "if you don't test, you don't have cases". I gather testing in Thailand is at a very low level indeed.

"Testing" is an arbitrary term and doesn't really mean anything without context.

Mass testing the population has no benefit whatsoever, unless it is supported by a robust contact tracing system and enforced quarantine, both of which come under abuse from the human rights brigade.

None of the so called democratic countries have been able to implement mass testing effectively. Thailand has always seen the limitations and unlike the west does not have the resources to throw that kind of money down the drain.

 

Targeted testing is a different matter altogether and quite widespread in Thailand, about a million carried out, more people here have been tested in quarantine than in the UK.