Thailand reports 745 new COVID-19 cases, one more death

[FarFlungFalang]

4 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

152 were local transmission, 745 were local transmission, the migrants didn't arrive yesterday, this migrant theme has been running for well over 3 weeks now.

And will continue to run the length of the pandemic.The blame the foreigner theme has been running since Jan 2020.

[Petey11]

1 hour ago, Kadilo said:

 Yes sadly the spike will steepen over the next few days once the real impact of Xmas/New Year kicks in.  

Maybe not, no test, no find, all happy. If there is no spike all will definitely know it is lack of testing or dodgy reporting.

[ericdiam]

1 hour ago, Dmaxdan said:

I agree, but in fairness the majority are migrant worker cases which had already been reported  yesterday. 

And these migrants all stay in camps who are sealed off since the start. 

So somewhere the 152 for total Thailand is not that bad. But yeah next 2 weeks that no will sure go up because all the traveling and mass gathering for Christmas and new year

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, Stev Lam said:

Thailand seemingly trying to playdown reporting case numbers (reporting in a very confusing way)....trying to draw a line between migrant workers and locals...not sure what is their point? Afterll is local infection cases!

Because Migrant workers are restricted in their movement (especially in Samut Sakhon). Watch the local cases among Thais for the extent of local transmission. Better still. watch the number of deaths. 

[ExpatOilWorker]

53 minutes ago, rabas said:

Yes. They do report internationally.  According to WHO, the important factor is tests per detected case, where Thailand excels. From ourworldindata.org. 

 

Caution, heads may explode as Thailand is ahead of both the UK and Taiwan.

 

 

 

With 300 cases in late December,  they should have done 90,000 test, but that does not match the below graph.

Something is not right.

 

[stephenterry]

If they want to ruin the economy, either lock down as before or let the virus run riot. Either way it's a lose - lose scenario now that there are hundreds of affected people who probably will continue their lifestyle with relatives and friends and fellow workers.

[tingtong]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Is there any, just any information out there of how many test they do daily?

 

At the beginning of the "new wave" about 40% of tests were positive....

Assume the % similar, probably around 3000 tests?

 

I don't think they date to do more, and face reality.

[Dutyfirst]

17 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

152 were local transmission, 745 were local transmission, the migrants didn't arrive yesterday, this migrant theme has been running for well over 3 weeks now.

Over the weekend i saw a Thai news report with one of Thailand's infectious disease specialists saying that as of monday they were releasing the 500 or so positive figures for the migrant workers. They mentioned this delayed reporting because of the time it took to process the 1000's of suspected/at risk cases in the migrant camps and they wanted to collate all the data once all those tests had been finalized. 

[DavisH]

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Um, yep, that's what happens when you let a virus run free, soon soon it will be all 77 provinces due to an inept government not wanting to lose face.

Wait for the REAL lockdown. That's how they will save face. Wait for the curfew and alcohol ban. It worked before and will work again, but will be over a longer duration. There is NO way they will let daily cases run into the thousands, and if they do there will be a massive lockdown, probably like the one in Wuhan, where you couldn't leave the house for 6 weeks. Wait. 

[Dutyfirst]

22 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Testing would only make the number of cases rise and nobody wants the number of cases to rise.Testing is not wanted nor encouraged here.Thailand is doing better than the rest of the world.Thailand with little testing is doing better than the UK,even Sweden is doing better than the UK and we all know what a bunch of murderous kents they are in Sweden.Maybe we call all take a leaf out of Thailand's book and ignore the pandemic until herd immunity is reached as stopping the virus doesn't seem to be working and is causing more grief on top of that caused by the pandemic itself.

As much as i dont like to admit it i think you might be right. I know a couple of Thai's who have recently travelled to other provinces and returned and had flu like symptoms. They went to the hospital worried about Covid (2 different hospitals) the doctor said he didnt think it was Covid but they could test but the cost would be 5500 baht. In order for them to qualify for free testing they needed to be either directly linked to a confirmed covid case or been in a confirmed location hotspot such as the market in samut sakorn. 

So as you can see not alot of Thai's want to fork out 5500 baht and get told its probably just a cold and not to worry. 

[TSF]

2 minutes ago, DavisH said:

Wait for the REAL lockdown. That's how they will save face. Wait for the curfew and alcohol ban. It worked before and will work again, but will be over a longer duration. There is NO way they will let daily cases run into the thousands, and if they do there will be a massive lockdown, probably like the one in Wuhan, where you couldn't leave the house for 6 weeks. Wait. 

I agree, another week or two at most with these climbing numbers and there will be a nation-wide lockdown + alcohol ban. 

[dcnx]

1 hour ago, rabas said:

Yes. They do report internationally.  According to WHO, the important factor is tests per detected case, where Thailand excels. From ourworldindata.org. 

 

Caution, heads may explode as Thailand is ahead of both the UK and Taiwan.

 

 

Tests per detected case means nothing.

 

Compare actual tests performed.

[Misterwhisper]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Of the new cases, 152 were local transmissions and 577 were amongst migrant workers

Does it matter? It's 745 new cases in a single day. Period.

[Virt]

20 minutes ago, DavisH said:

Because Migrant workers are restricted in their movement (especially in Samut Sakhon). Watch the local cases among Thais for the extent of local transmission. Better still. watch the number of deaths. 

 

If the fatality rate continue as in 2020 the 63 deaths so far will rise to about 80 within 2 weeks.

If so Thailand still has a low fatality rate compared to many other countries. 

[Dutyfirst]

1 minute ago, Misterwhisper said:

Does it matter? It's 745 new cases in a single day. Period.

Context does matter. These 500 or more migrant cases were backlogged cases from testing all spread over a number of days of the migrant camps around the initial outbreak.  A spread amongst a highly crowded migrant camp who have sadly  been locked in by barbed wire is a lot different than wide spread local transmission.  

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

43 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Testing would only make the number of cases rise and nobody wants the number of cases to rise.Testing is not wanted nor encouraged here.Thailand is doing better than the rest of the world.Thailand with little testing is doing better than the UK,even Sweden is doing better than the UK and we all know what a bunch of murderous kents they are in Sweden.Maybe we call all take a leaf out of Thailand's book and ignore the pandemic until herd immunity is reached as stopping the virus doesn't seem to be working and is causing more grief on top of that caused by the pandemic itself.

 

Can call it Hide and seek.

 

Where Thailand stands for hide  and UK and Sweden for seek the virus by massive testing's.

[rabas]

25 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

With 300 cases in late December,  they should have done 90,000 test, but that does not match the below graph.

Something is not right.

 

Looking close, you see Thailand's last reporting date is Dec 18, (dark line) just before the outbreak. Testing is not reported daily.  News articles have mentioned much larger testing after the outbreak, 10K at a shot, so they probably have done about 90K. 

 

The point was the UN recommends maintaining a good level of tests/discovered case. Using millions of tests for each case you find waste valuable resources to fight the pandemic.

[dgwooster]

Rather than having the total number of tests done, it would be nice to have a "Percent Positivity" result, which would be more informative.   Then we'd know how pervasive the cases are in the kingdom.

 

number of positive results 

dvided by the......................   x 100%

number of total tests given

[webfact]

Sharp increase in Covid-19 cases on a single day, with one death

By The Nation

 

 

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced 745 confirmed cases, including 16 in quarantine facilities, on Monday, one of the highest on a single day.

 

Of the domestic cases, 60 were occupations that exposed them or took them to risky places, and 577 were migrant workers, found positive in proactive testing.

 

Most of the cases were in Samut Sakhon (505), followed by Rayong (25), Chonburi (22), Chanthaburi (22), two in Trat and one in Chainat. Meanwhile, 92 patients are under investigation to find the source of the infection in Samut Sakhon (36), Samut Prakarn (20), Rayong (17), Chonburi (13), Chanthaburi (5) and Bangkok (1).

 

Ten of the 16 patients testing positive in quarantine facilities were foreigners -- a Kazakhstan citizen from Russia, a Canadian and two French nationals from Sweden, a Cameroonian from Ethiopia, and two Turks, an Indian, a Swiss national and a Japanese from their respective countries. The others included two Thai nationals returning from Italy, three Thais from the United Kingdom and one Thai from Egypt.

 

CCSA spokesperson Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said one person infected with Covid-19 had died. The 56-year-old Bangkokian had diabetes and high blood pressure, and had travelled to Samut Prakarn and Klongtoey district of Bangkok.

 

The patient went for treatment on December 28 after having high fever, muscle ache, and being unable to swallow food.

 

He was admitted to a hospital on December 30 as the oxygen level in his blood dropped to 80 per cent and he was found to have pneumonia. He tested positive for Covid-19 on January 1. On the same day, the patient needed a respirator. He passed away on January 3 due to respiratory failure.

 

Meanwhile, 15 patients have recovered and been discharged.

 

The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 8,439 – 6,379 of which were contracted domestically, including 2,037 migrant workers, and 2,060 returnees. So far, 4,352 have recovered and been discharged, while the death toll has increased to 65.

 

According to Worldometer, as of 10am on Monday, the total number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 85.5 million (up by 510,153), 60.45 million have recovered, 23.19 million are active cases (106,019 in severe condition) and 1.85 million have died (up by 7,099).

 

Thailand ranks 134 in the global list of most cases, while the US tops the list with 21.11 million, followed by India 10.34 million, Brazil 7.73 million, Russia 3.23 million and France 2.65 million.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30400663

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2021-01-04

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[mjakob007]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

 Yes sadly the spike will steepen over the next few days once the real impact of Xmas/New Year kicks in.  

only if the widespread testing continues.

if testing goes back to hibernation as was the case until few weeks back, it will all look fine and dandy

[webfact]

'Just stay home' - Thai PM urges compliance as virus cases hit record

 

FILE PHOTO: Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha waves as he attends an agreement signing ceremony for purchase of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine at Government House, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Bangkok, Thailand November 27, 2020. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/Pool

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's prime minister on Monday urged the public to stay home to help contain the country's biggest coronavirus outbreak yet and avoid a strict lockdown, as authorities confirmed a daily record 745 new infections.

 

The government has declared 28 provinces, including Bangkok, as high-risk zones and asked people to work from home and avoid gathering or travel beyond their provinces, as infection numbers climb in the wake of outbreak first detected last month at a seafood market near the capital.

 

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government was mindful of the potential economic damage from strong containment measures.

 

"We don't want to lock down the entire country because we know what the problems are, therefore can you all lock down yourselves?" he told reporters.

 

"This is up to everyone, if we don't want to get infected just stay home for 14 to 15 days, if you think like this then things will be safe, easier for screening," Prayuth added.

 

There was also one new death confirmed on Monday. Of the 745 cases included in the day's total, 541 had been reported on Sunday by provincial authorities.

 

Thailand has recorded 8,439 coronavirus cases and 65 deaths overall, among the lowest numbers in Asia.

Most new cases are linked to a migrant worker cluster which started in Samut Sakhon, a province southwest of Bangkok, and led to infections in more than half of the country's provinces.

 

Bangkok authorities ordered restaurants and street food vendors to halt dine-in services between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. from Tuesday to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Take-outs will be allowed.

 

Alcohol sales in restaurants have been banned and bars and other entertainment venues closed in high-risk provinces. Provincial governors have been empowered to set their own restrictions.

 

Schools and education centres nationwide have been closed for one month.

 

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-04

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[sapson]

1 hour ago, Virt said:

From September 18 - Dec 13 Thailand were steady at 333 tests pr positive each day. 

 

 

So if we follow those figures the 745 positives equates to 248,085 tests yesterday..... of course

 

Where exactly nationwide were those quarter of a million tests conducted?

[spiekerjozef]

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

We don't want to lock down the entire country because we know what the problems are, therefore can you all lock down yourselves?" he told reporters.

 

"This is up to everyone, if we don't want to get infected just stay home for 14 to 15 days, if you think like this then things will be safe, easier for screening," Prayuth added.

He is so right. But nobody listens.

I haven't left the city for over 9 months. Why is that so difficult?

[spidermike007]

 

This all happened due to sheer stupidity and stunning greed. Thailand is really going into a world of hurt now. Tourism will not recover for years and domestic tourism just died. Millions of jobs lost.

Edited January 4, 2021 by onthedarkside
quote of hidden post removed

[rabas]

1 hour ago, dgwooster said:

Rather than having the total number of tests done, it would be nice to have a "Percent Positivity" result, which would be more informative.   Then we'd know how pervasive the cases are in the kingdom.

 

number of positive results 

dvided by the......................   x 100%

number of total tests given

 

I posted similar data earlier. Here is another version without smoothing. It shows number of actual tests performed per positive case.  It compares Thailand with UK and Taiwan, which represent higher and lower case levels. Thailand has higher (better) testing per case discovered. Thai data stops on Dec 18 so does not include the current outbreak.

 

You suggested the inverse of this data. The inverse of this data, positive cases/test, is lower for Thailand suggesting few cases in the general population.

 

 

From here. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/tests-per-confirmed-case-daily-smoothed?tab=chart&yScale=linear&time=earliest..latest&country=TWN~THA~GBR

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by rabas

[Snig27]

2 hours ago, Lapun said:

Make of that what you will.

 Given the globally accepted infection rates in Thailand compared to almost every other country on that list, then it means the traced and targeted testing policy adopted by the medical experts here worked. It's also a policy that has been lauded internationally as successful.

 

Add to that, that the rates in many countries include multiple testing of health workers. I personally know of an isolation worker in New Zealand who has been tested a couple of dozen times as routine. 

It seems people are happy to accept Thailand's testing numbers as accurate on the WHO site and condemn them for it and then question the same site's infection (and death rates) despite a similar source. It's the same logic that says the Dems cheated in the states Trump lost but not in the ones he won. 

There is a Facebook page (no link sorry it was week or so ago) where doctors and virologists discuss why Thailand's testing was so effective. But I guess that conflicts with the armchair and barroom memes.

[vandeventer]

1 hour ago, DavisH said:

Wait for the REAL lockdown. That's how they will save face. Wait for the curfew and alcohol ban. It worked before and will work again, but will be over a longer duration. There is NO way they will let daily cases run into the thousands, and if they do there will be a massive lockdown, probably like the one in Wuhan, where you couldn't leave the house for 6 weeks. Wait. 

That's it I had enough, I am going to stay in bed with my electric blanket turned on and wait for my Nurse-Chef to come see me everyday until this is all over.

[jayson1]

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

 

With 300 cases in late December,  they should have done 90,000 test, but that does not match the below graph.

Something is not right.

 

 

Our World in Data only has the Thai testing figures up until 18 December - https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-tests-cases-deaths?tab=table&stackMode=absolute&time=2020-02-20..latest&region=World (scroll down to Thailand). Per the Ministry of Public Health, in the week of 19-25 December,* 108,819 tests were conducted, which was a large increase from the previous weeks, with the last three days seeing 20,000 tests per day. see http://nextcloud.dmsc.moph.go.th/index.php/s/wbioWZAQfManokc (either the PDF, PPTX, or XLS right at the end (all in Thai although the XLS is just numbers).

 

Yes, Thailand has been slow to ramp up testing and more testing would show more numbers, but if you see the XLS file, you will see the test positivity rate of .02% for the week to 25 December. Meanwhile, the BBC was reporting 27% test positivity rate for London yesterday. Ok, that is an extreme example, but more testing would see more numbers everywhere.

 

Further, if you check the XLS you will see over 850,000 tests conducted between June-November. Around 180,000 Thais returnees and expats entered Thailand from April to mid-December.  Two tests per 14 day quarantine period. Around 1,200 tested positive so round up to another 10,000 tests for extra multiple tests of these people. Thais would leave around 470,000 tests on those not in quarantine. You had the recent cases of dozens of Thais coming back from Myanmar and testing positive, a few other local cases. That is still a lot of testing with very few positive cases.  

 

*Weekly testing numbers seem to be updated on a Tuesday so we will see the latest numbers soon.

[TheFishman1]

I don’t know how many test does Thailand do every day does anybody have that number

[PGSan]

1 hour ago, TSF said:

I agree, another week or two at most with these climbing numbers and there will be a nation-wide lockdown + alcohol ban. 

Counting the days!