File photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Thailand on Friday (July 30) reported 17,345 new COVID-19 cases and 117 additional deaths over the past 24 hours. 

● 16,664 new infections
● 681 prison / prison infections

Friday’s cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 578,375 with 4,679 deaths. 

(Total infections since April 1: 549,512)

The news comes as the Swiss Government has donated a supply of medical equipment including test kits and ventilators to Thailand to help with the country’s COVID-19 response. Thailand’s Minister of Public Health today received the equipment in the name of the Thai government.

 

The Swiss-donated medical equipment was transported to Thailand onboard Swiss Air Lines’ flight LX180 from Zurich, and contained 1.1 million COVID-19 antigen test kits, and 102 ventilators. 

 

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Thailand on Friday reported 17,345 new COVID cases, its second highest total ever and second straight 17,000+ case day, along with 117 new deaths, marking slight declines from the pandemic record highs for both set on Thursday.

 

Friday’s 17,345 new cases marked a 324 case decline from the record high 17,669 cases reported Thursday, as daily cases in Thailand have rocketed upward from the 10,000 range in mid-July. Friday’s 117 new deaths was well below yesterday’s record 165 new deaths and the 133 reported on Wednesday.

 

Friday’s new case count included 16,664 among the general public and 681 from Thailand’s prisons. Thailand has now totaled 578,375 COVID cases and 4,679 COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic in January 2020, though most of those have occurred just since this April.

 

Now in the worst of a so-called third wave that began in April, Thailand’s COVID outbreak has spread lately from its original center in Bangkok and several adjoining provinces to the entire nation. All or almost all of Thailand’s 77 provinces lately have been reporting new COVID cases on a daily basis.

 

In Thursday’s update, the Central region including Bangkok tallied the most new COVID cases with 9,920. But the comparatively impoverished Northeast Isaan region – home to many of the country’s low-wage laborers, was next with 2,938 new cases, followed by 2,347 in the East, 1,347 in the South, 675 in the West, and 425 in the North. On Thursday, 14 of the 20 areas in the Northeast each reported more than 100 new cases.

 

Friday's slight decline in newly reported cases makes it likely that the government still has not fully reported most of the more than 3,000 COVID cases found and reported in local news media a week ago at a Saha Farms chicken processing plant in Phetchabun province in the Central region.

 

Health experts said the rising COVID case and death tolls in Thailand have been driven by the highly contagious Delta (India) variant of the coronavirus that’s now become dominant in the country. Its toll has been worsened by Thailand’s lagging COVID vaccination program that has only fully vaccinated less than 6 percent of the population after months of effort, partly due to limited supplies of government procured vaccines.

 

The country’s health care system has been brought to the breaking point by the worsening pandemic. A government medical official said Thursday that Bangkok had run out of available hospital beds for moderate to severe COVID cases. Total COVID hospitalizations have almost doubled in the past two-plus weeks, and the share of those in critical condition has almost doubled in the past month.

 

Thailand on Friday again reported a new record high for active COVID cases hospitalized (192,526) including those in regular hospitals (74,232), makeshift field hospitals and so-called hospitels (hotel hospitals), as well as new record highs for critical COVID patients (4,595) and the share of those on ventilators (1,012).

 

In other developments:

--Across the country on Thursday, 40 of Thailand’s 77 provinces, another new record high, reported more than 100 new COVID cases for the day. Two of those provinces topped the 1,000+ new case mark for the day: Bangkok with 3,963 and Samut Sakhon with 1,172. Bangkok case tally marked a slight decline from its record high 3,997 cases from the day before.

 

--Samut Prakan province, meanwhile, reported what was believed to be its highest daily death toll yet at 32, while much larger Bangkok reported 58, still well below its pandemic daily record of 71 on July 17.

 

-- Separately, the government said 60.3 percent of Bangkok residents had received their first COVID vaccination shot, but only 13.3 percent their full vaccination second shot as of Wednesday, based on a very low population figure of 7.7 million. Lately, the government has ceased regular public reports of province by province vaccination details for other areas, as they have focused their vaccination efforts on Bangkok and surrounding areas.

 

--Early this morning, 1.5 million Pfizer vaccine doses donated by the United States to Thailand arrived to Bangkok. And, Thai-American U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth this week told a webinar session that the Biden Administration plans to provide about 1 million more doses of some vaccine, for a total of 2.5 million. Those donated Pfizer doses should become the first mRNA COVID vaccines to become publicly available in Thailand, while the country’s own orders for purchased mRNA vaccines remain still months away from delivery.

 

--For foreign nationals, the government’s Bang Sue Central Vaccination Center in Bangkok will continue to allow limited walk-in vaccinations for those age 75 and above living in Bangkok and five adjoining provinces through tomorrow/Saturday. Visitors reported the staff there aren’t enforcing the residency requirement with any kind of documentation, just a verbal statement.

 

--Foreign nationals age 60 and above who live in those same six provinces (and perhaps beyond) can still pre-register for Bang Sue appointments. Starting in early August, a government spokesman said vaccinations at Bang Sue will be expanded to foreign nationals under age 60, but offered no further specifics. For more info, see the website https://www.thailandintervac.com/

 

Staying in that 17k case range right now.  Deaths are still over 100 a day and unfortunately many more are being found within their residences, and on the streets.  Police have been now tasked with investigating photos of deceased on the sides of the roads, in Talads and such as being fake news or not.  The stories I have heard are directly from the news reports.  A news story this morning also included a Covid infected Taxi driver who was still driving taxi despite being Ill.  Stay safe folks and if using public transport of any type be safe and protect yourself and loved ones.

Well, why am I not surprised? Do the leaders know why this is happening? Rhetorical question!

Details for the new record high numbers of hospitalizations,  critical condition and ventilated critical patients, as listed above:

 

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/

 

Self-referred COVID patients counted at 12,823 shows a decline from the record high 14,782 reported yesterday, which could be a sign of hospitals running out of available beds and refusing new walk-in patients, and/or cases not being reported because they're based on initial antigen tests instead of RT-PCR tests.

 

 

Total of 17,345 new infections, with 681 of those from prison and 16,664 in the community. 117 covid deaths recorded.

 

Prayut clinging onto power with no accountability, muzzling the press from reporting to avoid scaring the public in the pandemic. Doctors resort to praying while the patients are stacked outside hospital dying. Thailand's response to Delta...............abysmal.

 

Rolling 7 day average (up to 28^th July) which includes prison cases and bar chart of community cases from daily official announcements.

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

#COVID19 Update on Friday: 17,345 new cases (681 from prisons) and 117 deaths. 10,678 released from care. Full details at 12:30pm #Thailand #โควิดวันนี้

 

27 July: 14,150 - 118 dead

28 July: 16,533 - 133 dead

29 July: 17,669 - 165 dead

30 July: 17,345 - 117 dead <— TODAY

 

https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1420909449221349379

 

The critical care cases as shown in the graphic posted above as well as those on ventilators is just staggering to me based upon the numbers of cases we are seeing and then of those passing away.

Chonburi Public Health Office has just announced they have 914 new cases and 6 more deaths. Most new cases are in Chonburi City (286), Bang Lamung/Pattaya (67), and Si Racha (258). The total cases is now 24,420 with 11,441 patients in care #COVID19 #โควิดวันนี้ #Thailand

https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1420895528313708545

 

My son was telling me last night that there are a growing number of cases in his village, (Banglamung) but that you wouldn't know it from the way his neighbours are still socialising. Difficult to see this trailing away like the morning mist the way Prayut keeps trying to suggest.

I will still stick with my prediction of 20,000 official cases per day by the end of next week.

‘The war has changed’: Internal CDC document urges new messaging, warns delta infections likely more severe

The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.”

 

Studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated. Vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/

Let's hope the slight decline in cases, and the more dramatic drop in deaths, continues.  Maybe we've passed the peak after all. 

10 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

Well, why am I not surprised? Do the leaders know why this is happening? Rhetorical question!

Do they care?

2 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Total of 17,345 new infections, with 681 of those from prison and 16,664 in the community. 117 covid deaths recorded.

 

Prayut clinging onto power with no accountability, muzzling the press from reporting to avoid scaring the public in the pandemic. Doctors resort to praying while the patients are stacked outside hospital dying. Thailand's response to Delta...............abysmal.

 

Rolling 7 day average (up to 28^th July) which includes prison cases and bar chart of community cases from daily official announcements.

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

Still not sure if the Phetchabun cases have been added or if they ever will.  Hiding cases behind the Rapid Antigen test is also a farce, and the people in this country know the truth as it stares them in the face daily with family cases growing at a staggering rate.  Soon many communities will be told they must be locked in for fear of it spreading further.  The problem is it is already spreading everywhere and the only way to slow the spread is to vaccinate people.  Just read a story of someone who had been an Antivaxxer elsewhere becoming sick and now being on a ventilator.  He believed all of the Antivaxxer rhetoric and now wishes he did not.  Other stories of people disguising themselves as they get vaccinated and are hiding the facts from family members who are antivaxxer as well in order to protect themselves.

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Let's hope the slight decline in cases, and the more dramatic drop in deaths, continues.  Maybe we've passed the peak after all. 

If your post wasn't about such a serious subject, it would be laughable. You really are living in a dream world.

1 minute ago, farangman said:

If your post wasn't about such a serios subject, it would be laughable. You really are living in a dream world.

You don't "hope" I'm right?  That's sad.

4 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Let's hope the slight decline in cases, and the more dramatic drop in deaths, continues.  Maybe we've passed the peak after all. 

Is this a serious comment. 

"Maybe we've passed the peak after all"

Classic!

Just now, DrJack54 said:

Is this a serious comment. 

"Maybe we've passed the peak after all"

Classic!

You don't think that maybe we have?  I accept it's unlikely, hence writing that I hope today's figures show this.  We can all hope.  

6 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Let's hope the slight decline in cases, and the more dramatic drop in deaths, continues.  Maybe we've passed the peak after all. 

You are truly an optimist, yet I am one who believes we are seeing the numbers that a lack of testing and from use of the Rapid Antigen Tests that are being used.  It would be nice to know how many of the Rapid Antigen tests have been used by the Government and how many positives there have been, however they will never divulge that unless a secret memo is leaked in the future.  The beds they are building and the rush to make more critical care units elsewhere as well as the Covid Train and Flying people by military aircraft to their home locations show just how tenuous the situation is.  People want to go home and be treated and in case they die want to be near family instead of far away and alone.  Thailand people, at least in the villages are a tight knot family, and regardless of what some people think, they are very private with specific affairs no matter what those that spread gossip in the villages think.

10 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

‘The war has changed’: Internal CDC document urges new messaging, warns delta infections likely more severe

The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.”

 

Studies showing that vaccinated individuals infected with delta may be able to transmit the virus as easily as those who are unvaccinated. Vaccinated people infected with delta have measurable viral loads similar to those who are unvaccinated and infected with the variant.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/07/29/cdc-mask-guidance/

Yes, one who is vaccinated can easily pass the virus if they are infected and are asymptomatic.  The funny thing is here everyone has been offered a dose and there is around 20 percent who refused the vaccine.  Nothing funny about that - but we are opening up.  So basically if you are not vaccinated chances are you're going to get sick.  

Eventually you may find this happening worldwide.  

We have no masks, no social distancing, and I don't care if these people get sick because our lockdown is ending.  

12 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

My son was telling me last night that there are a growing number of cases in his village, (Banglamung) but that you wouldn't know it from the way his neighbours are still socialising. Difficult to see this trailing away like the morning mist the way Prayut keeps trying to suggest.

I am perplexed by the low number given for Banglamung above, when it has consistently produced over 200 for some days, and has been the most in the Province, for many days. 

Just now, brewsterbudgen said:

You don't think that maybe we have?  I accept it's unlikely, hence writing that I hope today's figures show this.  We can all hope.  

To put it politely.....if you believe that if the numbers (which are suss in the first place) were to drop for few days in a row that could mean that we are 'past the peak' then you are seriously being very foolish or naive or both.

Frankly go so far to say it's bit of slap in face to the folk dealing with this first hand.

 

15 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

My son was telling me last night that there are a growing number of cases in his village, (Banglamung) but that you wouldn't know it from the way his neighbours are still socialising. Difficult to see this trailing away like the morning mist the way Prayut keeps trying to suggest.

Prayut and most previous Thai government leaders before him are not exactly known for their honesty in reporting bad news and taking responsibility. I don't expect this to change any time soon. Unless of course enough people are vaccinated and even then it will take weeks to see a results as a shot does not mean protection right away. 

 

Thai government officials always seem to make crazy positive statements and now they seem to want to attack those who spread the truth by blocking IP's too bad for them IP's are not static and a VPN would fool everyone. 

17 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

I will still stick with my prediction of 20,000 official cases per day by the end of next week.

They will be fudging the numbers to ensure the reopening can happen. 

 

Letting everyone know the true extent of the problem will scupper the reopening and cause the govt to lose face. 

8 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

You are truly an optimist, yet I am one who believes we are seeing the numbers that a lack of testing and from use of the Rapid Antigen Tests that are being used.  It would be nice to know how many of the Rapid Antigen tests have been used by the Government and how many positives there have been, however they will never divulge that unless a secret memo is leaked in the future.  The beds they are building and the rush to make more critical care units elsewhere as well as the Covid Train and Flying people by military aircraft to their home locations show just how tenuous the situation is.  People want to go home and be treated and in case they die want to be near family instead of far away and alone.  Thailand people, at least in the villages are a tight knot family, and regardless of what some people think, they are very private with specific affairs no matter what those that spread gossip in the villages think.

Yes, I guess I am a hopeful optimist. This daily thread soon puts a stop to that though!

1.5 million Pfizer vaccines donated by the United States have arrived in Thailand!

 

https://twitter.com/USEmbassyBKK/status/1420889075226013699

 

6 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yes, I guess I am a hopeful optimist. This daily thread soon puts a stop to that though!

It's not about being optimistic.

It's about timing and compassion.

I don't think Monty Pythons "Bring Out Your Dead" sketch would get many laughs at the moment.

 

10 minutes ago, anchadian said:

1.5 million Pfizer vaccines donated by the United States have arrived in Thailand!

 

https://twitter.com/USEmbassyBKK/status/1420889075226013699

 

Any of the vaccine going to USA citizens?

Would be surprised.

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Any of the vaccine going to USA citizens?

Would be surprised.

I doubt it. The US citizens just get to pay for it. These shots will largely go to well off, connected Thais (plus a few to the serfs for the sake of a photo shoot).

 

Same as the UK vaccines.

 

Poor people in rich countries paying for rich people in poor countries.