Top MoPH official declares Phuket and Bangkok "endemic areas"

[webfact]

REUTERS file photo for reference only

 

Dr Kiatphoom Wongjarit of the Thai Ministry of Public Health said that in certain areas of Thailand the pandemic was entering a new phase.

 

He described Bangkok and Phuket as endemic areas or areas where Covid-19 would be regularly found among the population.

 

He said he approved of opening up measures and that the population of such areas would have to learn to live with the disease though they should continue to take precautions. 

 

He anticipated that 20% of people who contracted the virus would need some form of hospital treatment but that the hospital system was able to cope, reported Bangkok Business News. 

 

He expected no great change in the numbers of cases after lockdown easing though he suggested that continued protocols would be needed to ensure that numbers did not go up significantly.

 

He pointed out that getting tested aith ATK kits didn't stop Covid and neither did vaccination.

 

Vaccination principally meant that those jabbed would likely not develop severe symptoms. 

 

People were going to have to learn to live with the virus and adopt appropriate measures to get on with their lives, was the overriding message. 

 

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[John Drake]

Just waved the white flag.

[fangless]

Just now, John Drake said:

Just waved the white flag.

Shouldn't it be yellow for quaranteen?

[John Drake]

1 minute ago, fangless said:

Shouldn't it be yellow for quaranteen?

Could be. Maybe even checkered. We're finished.

[Geoffggi]

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

People were going to have to learn to live with the virus and adopt appropriate measures to get on with their lives, was the overriding message. 

At last the light comes on ..!!!!

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

He said he approved of opening up measures and that the population of such areas would have to learn to live with the disease though they should continue to take precautions. 

People in Phuket are trying to learn to live with it but are being stopped from doing so by all the businesses and schools that are still closed because of the measures in place, along with the ridiculous sandbox restrictions for arriving tourists.

 

If you're going to declare its endemic then also declare how we are going to live with it?

[Enzian]

I don't see how anyone can argue with his position. So my trivial consideration is the massage industry. I'm old. I used to go for massage about three times a week. I have the vax (currently in the US, but will have to return sometime), but that is not good enough. It seems like massage is over, for years, unless there is something I don't comprehend as yet. 

[Cherrytreeview]

The forum's resident deluded optimist, Professor Klutch, will be along soon to inform us this academic is misguided and needs Pattaya bell ringing retraining.

Exceptionally depressing reading.

If this is the 'new normal' then many may never return to Thailand.

 

 

 

[hotchilli]

Eventually that's what's going to happen, but Thailand has yet to complete it's vaccination programme, forget the 70% it's got to get up to 100%. Then people can get on with their lives using normal protection and if they get sick hopefully it won't put them in hospital.

[charmonman]

Once everyone has been vaccinated, had the disease, or both it becomes a less serious issue, like the seasonal flu. This has been a major disruption but it is not the end of the world as we know it, unless the government fails to move on and completely destroys the economy. Lockdown measures were justifiable but it may be time to move on like this person suggests. I wish they would put him in charge of the CCSA.

[Scrotobike]

Help - more words with no meaning

What they are saying is sod the numbers lets get on with life.

[boogiewoogie]

8 hours ago, John Drake said:

Just waved the white flag.

U have no idea what endemic means, do you?

[zzaa09]

6 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Eventually that's what's going to happen, but Thailand has yet to complete it's vaccination programme, forget the 70% it's got to get up to 100%. Then people can get on with their lives using normal protection and if they get sick hopefully it won't put them in hospital.

In the meanwhile, it's up to society to diligently practice protocol. 

[Marco100]

8 hours ago, Cherrytreeview said:

The forum's resident deluded optimist, Professor Klutch, will be along soon to inform us this academic is misguided and needs Pattaya bell ringing retraining.

Exceptionally depressing reading.

If this is the 'new normal' then many may never return to Thailand.

 

 

 

This , most probably , will be the new normal every where and it will be treated as Flue with vaccines every year ...

[hioctane]

“He pointed out that getting tested aith ATK kits didn't stop Covid and neither did vaccination.”

 

Is this guy even a doctor with a specialty in infectious diseases?

 

ATK tests does not stop Covid. It slows it down. If you can rapidly test people, you will catch it early before it spreads. Of course you can’t test everyone. That is why it won’t stop it. 

 

As for vaccinations, they are nowhere close to having enough vaccinations to stop the virus. It is slowing it down though as evidenced by the downward trend of Covid rates the last few weeks.

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

In the meanwhile, it's up to society to diligently practice protocol. 

Agreed, but down in Phuket that seems to be falling on deaf ears.

[Stargeezr]

Alberta Canada tried the endemic approach, but with so many unvaccinated younger people

getting sick and plugging up the hospitals ICU wards, we are back to masks and restrictions.

Good Luck Thailand, I do hope that the vaccination program there is successful and 100

percent of Thailand people get their 2 shots.  Delta Variant, what's that death mask you have on?

Could it be a faded rose from days gone by.  Think Delta Dawn....  song...

Geezer