FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker takes a nasal swab sample from a person for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test, as the country deals with a fresh wave of infections after tackling earlier outbreaks, in Bangkok, Thailand April 16, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo

 

BANGKOK, April 28 (Reuters) - Thailand on Wednesday reported 2,012 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country's total number of confirmed infections to 61,699 since the pandemic began last year.

 

Fifteen new deaths were reported, taking total fatalities to 178.

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panarat Thepgumpanat Editing by Ed Davies)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-04-28

 

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Thailand reported more than 2,000 new COVID cases for the sixth consecutive day Wednesday and set another record with 15 new deaths, matching the record tally from the day before for a pandemic total of 178, as new questions arose about the country's vaccination plans.

 

The 2,012 new cases Wednesday marked a slight decline from the prior two days, and is down from the country's peak of 2,839 new cases reached on April 24. However, the number of COVID patients in hospital kept rising, hitting 27,119, up from 25,973 the day before. The government has a policy to place all COVID positive patients into some kind of hospital type facility, including field hospitals and "hospitels" (hospital hotels).

 

The government also reported that 695 COVID patients are now in critical condition in Thai hospitals, a figure that has nearly doubled in the past six days from the 352 tally reached on April 23. The critical list patients list also increased 67 cases just from yesterday, when the number was 628. Among the criticals, 199 were reported requiring ventilators to breathe, up from 169 the day before.

 

Meanwhile, reports in local news media aired renewed complaints from private hospitals in Thailand that the government isn't responding to their efforts to source additional  vaccines from abroad to help with the country's lagging vaccination rate, one of the lowest in Asia, despite the prime minister's public promise to clear bureaucratic red tape.

 

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https://www.facebook.com/KhaosodEnglish/posts/4269116176440615

 

 

 

AND

 

Vaccine doses allocated by the government through April 27, 2021:

 

 

AND

 

Anutin shoots down social media rumour on Pfizer vaccine

 

Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul flatly denied a rumour on social media that American pharmaceutical company Pfizer had proposed to sell 13 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to Thailand four times but this was rejected by the government.

 

“This rumour is not true,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

“The 13 million doses is the number Pfizer presented to their head office in preparing sales proposal documents to be submitted to the Thai government. This number came from the government’s plan to buy the Covid-19 vaccines under a bilateral agreement for 10 per cent of the population, or two doses each for 6.7 million people, equal to around 13 million doses,” he wrote.

 

(more)

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000302

 

Note: thus far, the Thai government has not executed any publicly announced final deal to procure Pfizer vaccines.

 

Looks like the numbers are fairly stable.

It makes you wonder though how much proactive testing is going on in hotspots or is it limited to testing people presenting with possible symptoms ? 

Are they actively tracing and testing known close contacts ? I think it unlikely given the enormity of that task with over 2000 positive cases a day.

Bummer for the "the sky is falling" brigade, but it looks like the numbers are leveling out. There will be usual moaners out here claiming the numbers are incorrect, false, weekend under-reporting, etc. But for those of use who didn't jump onboard the drama train, this is good news.

Thank you to all the people adding the great details. You provide much more than what I am finding on the mainstream Newspaper sites. I especially like the list of provinces and the numbers recorded there. Whoever posts that everyday, thank you.

3 minutes ago, mjnaus said:

Bummer for the "the sky is falling" brigade, but it looks like the numbers are leveling out. There will be usual moaners out here claiming the numbers are incorrect, false, weekend under-reporting, etc. But for those of use who didn't jump onboard the drama train, this is good news.

There is no drama train, just reality that the total cases and deaths keep growing. Enjoy your priceless view.

Sixty five of Thailand's 77 provinces are now enforcing mandatory face mask wearing in both indoor and outdoor public places to combat the COVID outbreak. The provinces that have not adopted the mask requirement are noted in the list below with the "x" marks. Fine for non-compliance can be up to 20,000 baht for repeat offenders.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/4210918202264895

 

‘Soft’ curfews in eight provinces

 

"People in eight provinces are being encouraged to refrain from leaving their residences during the night to keep Covid-19 from spreading further, the Interior Ministry announced on its @prmoithailand Facebook page on Tuesday.

 

The eight provinces are:

1. Trang, from 10pm to 3am

2. Nonthaburi, 9pm to 4am

3. Beung Kan, 11pm to 4am

4. Pathum Thani, 9pm to 4am

5. Songkhla, 10pm to 4am

6. Samut Prakan, 9pm to 4am

7. Samut Sakhon, 11pm to 4am

8. Surat Thani, 10pm to 4am."

 

(more)

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000293

 

7 minutes ago, mjnaus said:

Bummer for the "the sky is falling" brigade, but it looks like the numbers are leveling out. There will be usual moaners out here claiming the numbers are incorrect, false, weekend under-reporting, etc. But for those of use who didn't jump onboard the drama train, this is good news.

Good news compared to what? 
 

A year ago? Six months ago? Vietnam or Taiwan? Hong Kong or Singapore? 

 

Or you mean compared to your home country maybe? 

"Approved by CCSA Thailand, 14-day quarantine will start May 1st, 2021 in all traveller entering Thailand after the situation in Thailand is gradually increasing. 3 counties namely India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh must quarantine for 21 days"

 

https://www.facebook.com/OICDDC/posts/3905861762867721

 

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

‘Soft’ curfews in eight provinces

 

"People in eight provinces are being encouraged to refrain from leaving their residences during the night to keep Covid-19 from spreading further, the Interior Ministry announced on its @prmoithailand Facebook page on Tuesday.

 

The eight provinces are:

1. Trang, from 10pm to 3am

2. Nonthaburi, 9pm to 4am

3. Beung Kan, 11pm to 4am

4. Pathum Thani, 9pm to 4am

5. Songkhla, 10pm to 4am

6. Samut Prakan, 9pm to 4am

7. Samut Sakhon, 11pm to 4am

8. Surat Thani, 10pm to 4am."

 

(more)

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000293

 

So by "soft" as it is not dictated, all they are really saying is that well known Thai phrase  " It's up to you" ????

3 minutes ago, Nismooo said:

Good news compared to what? 
 

A year ago? Six months ago? Vietnam or Taiwan? Hong Kong or Singapore? 

 

Or you mean compared to your home country maybe? 

Just in their own imagination more like 

"Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul is preparing to establish the primary center for admission and transfer of patients at the Indoor Stadium Huamark to cope with the high number of COVID-19 infected persons. It will be fully equipped with the necessary medical tools and medicine.

 

The center will be the first place to admit the infected patients and take care of them while waiting for the transfer to an available hospital. The patients will be taken care of by medical personnel. The center will be converted to a COVID-19 vaccination center in the future."

 

https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/4208141932542522

 

7 minutes ago, Nismooo said:

Good news compared to what? 

Good news as compared to the numbers showing a significant increase every day, which they were doing at one point. 

11 minutes ago, Nismooo said:

Good news compared to what? 
 

A year ago? Six months ago? Vietnam or Taiwan? Hong Kong or Singapore? 

 

Or you mean compared to your home country maybe? 

 

Uhm, compared to the rather steep increases we have seen last week? Not quite sure why we would be comparing anything to Vietnam or Taiwan.

36 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The 2,012 new cases Wednesday marked a slight decline from the prior two days,

 2000/70,000,000 does seem very, very low for a country with really no vaccine.

 

most of us could get on a plane and get the vaccination in our home country.   yes, expensive, sure!!!!  maybe never to return.

 

Up to you...... lol

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-foreigners-told-to-be-covid-socially-responsible-or-face-expulsion-79827.php

 

Phuket foreigners told to be COVID ‘socially responsible’ or face expulsion

PHUKET: Foreigners in Phuket caught ignoring COVID prevention measures and acting in a manner deemed to be not “socially responsible” will face legal penalties and may even face being kicked out of the country.

By The Phuket News

 

Wednesday 28 April 2021, 10:13AM

Two trolling posts have been removed.

 

5 minutes ago, mjnaus said:

 

Uhm, compared to the rather steep increases we have seen last week? Not quite sure why we would be comparing anything to Vietnam or Taiwan.

I dont really see how 15 deaths is good news... same as yesterday.

 

I like comparing with Vietnam and Taiwan, because thats living proof on how to deal with a pandemic...

Daily vaccinations report from the Ministry of Public Health - 52,681 total doses for the most recent day, and nearly 1.28 million cumulative. The government's goal is to end up administering 300,000 doses per day:

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/thaimoph/posts/297138901896020

 

16 minutes ago, mjnaus said:

 

Uhm, compared to the rather steep increases we have seen last week? Not quite sure why we would be comparing anything to Vietnam or Taiwan.

I'd rather wait to see some sharp decreases before I jump to anything

Still very concerning that the numbers have not yet started to decline. If the patterns of previous weeks hold, then we're still expecting an end of the week spike towards the 3,000 mark. 

 

Hopefully those spikes were caused by the lack of hospital beds, and with the backlog of patients looking for beds mostly cleared, we can see more stable daily numbers.

30 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

"Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul is preparing to establish the primary center for admission and transfer of patients at the Indoor Stadium Huamark to cope with the high number of COVID-19 infected persons. It will be fully equipped with the necessary medical tools and medicine.

 

The center will be the first place to admit the infected patients and take care of them while waiting for the transfer to an available hospital. The patients will be taken care of by medical personnel. The center will be converted to a COVID-19 vaccination center in the future."

 

https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/4208141932542522

 

So will the entire stadium be turned into a negative pressure unit, or will they have tubes like the iron lung machines of old to put patients inside of prior to launching to the moon as part of the new Thai expedition.

 

Yes this post has loads of sarcasm in it.

21 minutes ago, anchadian said:

https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-foreigners-told-to-be-covid-socially-responsible-or-face-expulsion-79827.php

 

Phuket foreigners told to be COVID ‘socially responsible’ or face expulsion

PHUKET: Foreigners in Phuket caught ignoring COVID prevention measures and acting in a manner deemed to be not “socially responsible” will face legal penalties and may even face being kicked out of the country.

By The Phuket News

 

Wednesday 28 April 2021, 10:13AM

So play by the rules.  No parties at your houses or condo's, listen to the governments briefings, wear your masks and be a responsible person and stop with the "I will do what I want my castle is my Kingdom and if i get sick I will self isolate and care for myself" attitude i keep seeing from some in Phuket that post here. It is not rocket science and folks need to accept what they are asked to do without being obstinate.

Certainly good not to see the cases surging up, lets all hope it stays that way. Flatlining at these numbers is still causing huge problems for hospital admissions;

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/situation.php

3 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Certainly good not to see the cases surging up, lets all hope it stays that way. Flatlining at these numbers is still causing huge problems for hospital admissions;

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/viralpneumonia/situation.php

Yes the beds keep filling up in relation to those being discharged.  The biggest concern is those needing critical care and that the need for respirators is increasing.  

1 hour ago, Swimfan said:

Looks like the numbers are fairly stable.

It makes you wonder though how much proactive testing is going on in hotspots or is it limited to testing people presenting with possible symptoms ?

would n't surprise if these numbers are just from people entering hospital with symptoms as opposed to active testing.

ThaiPBS reporting that Chiang Mai province has ordered the closure of a range of public gathering business types, similar to the restrictions Bangkok imposed this past Monday:

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/ThaiPBSWorld/videos/1735902633255713/

 

The province also was reported to be dealing with a COVID outbreak in its provincial prison that has infected both many prisoners and several guards.

 

"More than 100 Chiang Mai prison inmates test positive for

COVID-19"

 

https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld/videos/1595449853963522/

 

 

 

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

However, the number of COVID patients in hospital kept rising, hitting 27,119, up from 25,973 the day before.

Irrelevant statistic as they put all positives in...the number needing hospital treatment would be 2-3% of infected individuals (CDC). So add up all April infections and do the math and there's your real hospitalization figure.