Thailand reports 965 new COVID-19 cases

[Guderian]

This is interesting, and doesn't seem to have been picked up on yet. The authorities are blaming entertainment venues for spreading the virus in many, if not most, cases. According to the latest data, here are the percentage of cases known to have been resulted from entertainment venues so far in the current outbreak for the five provinces that are currently the worst-affected:

 

% of cases linked to entertainment venues

Bangkok                               70%

Chiang Mai                         92%

Chonburi                             50%

Prachuap Khiri Khan  88%

Sa Kaeo                                66%

 

How is it that Chonburi, home of Pattaya City and one of the main entertainment hubs (lol, really!) in Thailand has so few cases related to entertainment venues? And that's after proactive testing by the authorities in many bars and clubs around the city, so it can't be blamed on a lack of tests. Most of the cases in Chonburi City have been traced back to the Thonglor bars in Bangkok, the other major cluster in the province is Banglamung, which includes Pattaya. And yet, given that the Chonburi City cluster is mostly due to entertainment venues, it seems that less than half the cases being recorded in Pattaya now are not. So what is their source, because I for one would like to avoid it?

Edited April 13, 2021 by Guderian

[ThailandRyan]

5 minutes ago, Guderian said:

This is interesting, and doesn't seem to have been picked up on yet. The authorities are blaming entertainment venues for spreading the virus in many, if not most, cases. According to the latest data, here are the percentage of cases known to have been resulted from entertainment venues so far in the current outbreak for the five provinces that are currently the worst-affected:

 

% of cases linked to entertainment venues

Bangkok                               70%

Chiang Mai                         92%

Chonburi                             50%

Prachuap Khiri Khan  88%

Sa Kaeo                                66%

 

How is it that Chonburi, home of Pattaya City and one of the main entertainment hubs (lol, really!) in Thailand has so few cases related to entertainment venues? And that's after proactive testing by the authorities in many bars and clubs around the city, so it can't be blamed on a lack of tests. Most of the cases in Chonburi City have been traced back to the Thonglor bars in Bangkok, the other major cluster in the province is Banglamung, which includes Pattaya. And yet, given that the Chonburi City cluster is mostly due to entertainment venues, it seems that less than half the cases being recorded in Pattaya now are not. So what is their source, because I for one would like to avoid it?

It came from Thonglor, spread out as people went out partying and traveling the last week of march and then after incubation times the clusters started to emerge.  Movie at 5, 

[holy cow cm]

I am sorry, but these numbers have to be controlled and manipulated to stay under the proverbial 1000 every day. Just like CM was always held off to be the next day thus keeping the official daily count under the 1000 mark. Pure smoke and mirror joke.

[Petey11]

9 minutes ago, Nismooo said:

Does anyone thinks its a coincidence that the same week quarantine is reduced to 10 days is the week when a new outbreak hits? 

 

Or totally unrelated?

 

I know, that superspreaders in Thong lor are taking the blame for this but still... It only takes one or two to slip through quarantine with one of these mutations to cause a serious situation in my opinion. 

This outbreak started before anyone in 10 day quarantine programme was released I believe.

[cocoonclub]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

New cases have plateaued so you guys who have been predicting viral apocalypse for the past few days won't have to lock yourself in your basement for the next year after all.

You wouldn’t call 900+ new cases every day a “viral apocalypse”? 

[smedly]

24 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

How they'd ever get to that worse case 28k? They never test that number in a day

what do you mean "in a day"

 

not sure they are getting near that in a month 

 

the true actual infection rate will never be known

 

1. No mass random testing

 

2. They don't want it known

 

3. idiots 

[Nismooo]

3 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

This outbreak started before anyone in 10 day quarantine programme was released I believe.

Oh thats a good point actually ????

[smedly]

13 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

maybe it's intentional stupidity.

you need to be smart for that

[webfact]

Thailand reports 965 new COVID-19 cases as biggest holiday begins

By Orathai Sriring

 

People wearing protective face masks make sand pagodas during Songkran holiday which marks the Thai New Year during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, as the country deals with a fresh wave of infections after tackling earlier outbreaks, in Bangkok, Thailand, April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand on Tuesday reported 965 new COVID-19 cases after registering record rises in the past two days as the country started its Songkran new year holiday amid a third wave of infections.

 

Authorities have banned for a second year the water fights that usually happen on the streets during Songkran and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and reduce gatherings to help curb the outbreak, which includes the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain.

 

Of the new infections, 956 were local transmissions, including 194 in the capital Bangkok, the epicentre of an outbreak that has spread to most parts of the country.

 

"If we reduce activity ... it will help lower daily cases to 500-600," Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, told a briefing.

 

If more people work from home, it will cut average daily cases to less than 400, he said.

 

The new outbreak that emerged at the start of this month has added 5,597 domestic cases, including 1,625 in Bangkok, taking the total since last year to 34,575 cases and 97 deaths.

 

Thailand could lose more than 130 billion baht ($4.13 billion) in tourism revenue in the first half of 2021 due to the fresh outbreak and a second wave that emerged in late December, according to Kasikorn Research Center.

 

Last week, the central bank said the economy could grow less than its 3% forecast this year.

 

Nightspots such as pubs and karaoke bars in Bangkok and 40 provinces will be closed until April 23.

 

The measure should slow down infection rates by nearly a third in the next month, a health official said, warning that otherwise under a worst-case scenario infections could hypothetically reach over 28,000 per day.

 

Authorities have said they would install 10,000 field-hospital beds in Bangkok after last week some hospitals said they had stopped testing for COVID-19 over a lack of kit or bed capacity.

 

($1 = 31.49 baht)

 

(Reporting b Orathai Sriring and Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Editing by Ed Davies)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-04-13

 

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

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[ukrules]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

New cases have plateaued so you guys who have been predicting viral apocalypse for the past few days won't have to lock yourself in your basement for the next year after all.

Is that right? I heard something quite different, that they simply hit a wall on the number of tests that are being done.

[charmonman]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

New cases have plateaued so you guys who have been predicting viral apocalypse for the past few days won't have to lock yourself in your basement for the next year after all.

A slight decrease in one day is not a "plateau". I had the experience of living in a country in most of 2020 where cases exploded from small numbers to huge numbers in the space of weeks. Being complacent is not a solution. I sincerely hope you are right and its nothing to worry about, but don't assume your opinion is based on anything other than wishful thinking.

[Pattaya Spotter]

Again another day of no exponential growth in infections. A good thing. 

[smedly]

4 minutes ago, cocoonclub said:

You wouldn’t call 900+ new cases every day a “viral apocalypse”? 

 

what would you say if only 1000 people a day were tested - that would certainly be troubling to say the least

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

fyi, there was no EN language video news briefing today from the Ministry of Public Health.

 

However, the video of the TH language version is available here:

 

https://www.facebook.com/470988516420706/videos/134129038676362/

 

And the 20+ pages of slides in their presentation is available here:

https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/305213707763627

 

[PGSan]

22 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Movie at 5,

Meaning?

[daveAustin]

1 hour ago, edwardandtubs said:

New cases have plateaued so you guys who have been predicting viral apocalypse for the past few days won't have to lock yourself in your basement for the next year after all.

If there were any boats I’d say you’d just got off — believing erroneous figures put out by an authoritarian setup n all. Cases reported have plateaued, but likely through a woeful lack of testing while ‘Viral apocalypse’ is reported by Thais.

 
Unlikely to be as high as West though as Thais not as touchy feely and spend more time outdoors. Sincerely hope it doesn’t kick off, however, as healthcare there would be overwhelmed. happy for Thailand and Thais to be low and special if it means quicker return to normality. 

[wensiensheng]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The COVID case projections listed in the chart below are DAILY estimates based on various planning scenarios:

 

 

"According to Dr. Sopon Iamsirithaworn, the deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control (DDC), the epidemiology division in collaboration with the International Health Policy Program had come up with a mathematical model to predict the number of people who could become infected per day if safety measures were not observed.

 

In a worst-case scenario with no disease control measures in place, 28,678 people could be infected per day, he said.

 

However, the average number of daily cases under this scenario would be 9,140, Dr Sopon added, while noting the lowest number could be 1,308 if people do not comply with safety measures."

 

https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/posts/10157945118667050

 

 

So the current daily case rate is above the worst case 4th scenario and the average case 3rd scenario.

 

the only thing I am seeing is the closure of entertainment venues. So likely we are headed to scenario 2

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

In the past week or so, government hotlines for COVID related matters have been proliferating. Here's an EN summary of them for various needs/purposes:

 

--1668 is supposed to be the national hotline for help in finding hospital beds for COVID positive people.

 

-1669 is a comparable hotline for people in the BMA Bangkok region.

 

--1422 is the MoPH's general COVID info hotline, and they do have EN speaking staff there IME.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/posts/10157947216427050

 

Edited April 13, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

A bit of catchup re Chonburi from yesterday:

 

 

The Royal Thai Navy has established a 320-bed field hospital at Air and Coastal Defense Command in the Sattahip district of Chonburi province.

 

The field hospital aims to help treat Covid-19 infected persons whose numbers have been increasing after the third wave of the outbreak was reported at entertainment venues in Bangkok and other provinces.

 

So far this year, the Navy has set up 3 field hospitals in Chonburi and Chanthaburi provinces, following the policy of the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Navy.

 

https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/posts/10157942848912050

 

Note: Chonburi province had 97 reported new cases today.

 

 

[sapson]

1 hour ago, crazykopite said:

What about the poor who live in the sticks and can’t afford to get to a doctor or hospital I bet there are many lying on a coconut mattress on there own and suffering if Covid doesn’t get them hunger will I’m sorry I refuse to believe such low figures when we see how the rest of the world are suffering  ☹️☹️☹️

 

The lack of testing easily and freely for the general population from day one has been farcical and an appalling trait of a harsh military regime controlling the coffers for their own benefit not for the population.

 

Yes many may succumb to Covid untraced or untreated but fortunately most Thais will always feed any genuinely starving fellow countrymen.......with the exception of the group who have seized control and tenaciously hold on to it.

[sandyf]

32 minutes ago, Guderian said:

How is it that Chonburi, home of Pattaya City and one of the main entertainment hubs (lol, really!) in Thailand has so few cases related to entertainment venues? And that's after proactive testing by the authorities in many bars and clubs around the city, so it can't be blamed on a lack of tests. Most of the cases in Chonburi City have been traced back to the Thonglor bars in Bangkok, the other major cluster in the province is Banglamung, which includes Pattaya. And yet, given that the Chonburi City cluster is mostly due to entertainment venues, it seems that less than half the cases being recorded in Pattaya now are not. So what is their source, because I for one would like to avoid it?

What is surprising? Are you trying to say Pattaya has come back to life, for months the line has been everywhere is shut as there is no one there.

The last figures that I saw for Mueang Chonburi showed about 300 cases in the previous week and 109 of them were down to one bar, The Flintstones. It is recorded as the city but a long way out at the junction of the No7 and 315. We drive past it regularly and looks like a high end venue. Other bars in Chonburi city and Sri Ratcha were mentioned but numbers relatively low.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

 

[FarFlungFalang]

27 minutes ago, smedly said:

what do you mean "in a day"

 

not sure they are getting near that in a month 

 

the true actual infection rate will never be known

 

1. No mass random testing

 

2. They don't want it known

 

3. idiots 

The week leading up to the April 4th the seven day rolling average was about 16,000 tests per day according to world in data.

 

 

 

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-testing#how-many-tests-are-performed-each-day

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

 

[Kaopad999]

Was in Koh Chang over the weekend and many Thai tourists  were sitting on the beach wearing masks and those plastic face shield things.. 

I spoke with a fair few Thai business owners down there and they told me that they are no longer worried about Covid as a threat to their health. However, they they are far more concerned about keeping their bushiness afloat and being able to feed their families..

[FarFlungFalang]

38 minutes ago, smedly said:

you need to be smart for that

Then I must be a bloody genius!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Couple to face legal action for not disclosing their COVID infections

 

Health officials have recommended that the disease control committee of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat consider taking legal action against a couple, who allegedly concealed the facts about their possible COVID-19 infection in a way which put other people at risk.

 

The couple flew separately from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat by Thai Lion Air on April 11th.

 

The 26-year old man, a native of Nakhon Si Thammarat, was informed by a close friend, with whom he had dinner on April 3rd, about his friend’s infection on the morning of April 11th, but he boarded the flight anyway. On arrival at his home in Muang district by a taxi, however, he immediately went to the Maharaj Hospital for a COVID-19 test, which confirmed he was infected, and he was admitted to the hospital.

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/couple-to-face-legal-action-for-not-disclosing-their-covid-infections/

 

 

[rabas]

45 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

56 minutes ago, Nismooo said:

Does anyone thinks its a coincidence that the same week quarantine is reduced to 10 days is the week when a new outbreak hits? 

 

Or totally unrelated?

I know, that superspreaders in Thong lor are taking the blame for this but still... It only takes one or two to slip through quarantine with one of these mutations to cause a serious situation in my opinion. 

Expand  

This outbreak started before anyone in 10 day quarantine programme was released I believe.

 

I thought this was an interesting question. Genomes from Cambodia's UK strain outbreak are slightly different from those found in Thailand's ASQ travellers from abroad.  The recent Thai UK strain exactly match those from Cambodia not ASQ.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

One news report is saying Thailand's slow pace of doing COVID vaccinations, and the perception the government had been interfering with private hospitals' efforts to import vaccines on their own, is costing the current government support among the hi-so business community.

 

Thailand’s conservative elite are rethinking the government after the latest covid fiasco

 

"Longtime supporters of the Prayut Chan-ocha government are rethinking their support of the government after the latest mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

With case numbers soaring and the economy suffering, conservative elites, which form the traditional base of support for the current government, have questioned whether the current administration have the leadership necessary to lead the country out of the current crisis.

 

“I think the final straw for me was the revelation from the private hospitals that the government regulations had been stopping them from getting their own vaccines,” said the heir to a shopping mall fortune that asked to not be named."

 

(more)

 

https://www.thaienquirer.com/26395/thailands-conservative-elite-are-rethinking-the-government-after-the-latest-covid-fiasco/

 

Note: the Prime Minister met the other day with leaders of Thailand's private hospitals association, and he and other government officials emerged promising that private hospitals would be allowed to import up to 10 million vaccine doses. And they set up a government committee the coordinate vaccine import efforts with the private sector. But all that for right now remains talk and promises.