File photo: REUTERS

 

Thailand on Wednesday (December 1) reported 4,886 new COVID-19 cases, 6,326 recoveries and 43 additional deaths over the past 24 hours. 

 

▶︎ Infections outside prisons: 4,721. Prisons: 165

▶︎ Recoveries: 6,326

▶︎ Total infections since April 1: 2,091,895

▶︎ Total recoveries since since April 1: 1,998,328

 

Wednesday’s cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 2,120,758 with 20,814 deaths.

 

The news comes as the ‘week of vaccination’ is now counting down towards its final day on December 5, and efforts to administer COVID-19 vaccines to those who are have yet to receive any shots are now in high gear. The aim is for 100 million doses of vaccine to be administered in total by year’s end.

 

Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling on unvaccinated people, regardless of nationality, to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot without charge at vaccination sites and mobile vaccination units. The premier explained that public health offices in every province are engaged in a drive to administer vaccines during the ‘week of vaccination’ from November 27 to December 5 in order for the 100 million doses target to be met. Incentives such as prize draws, rice handouts and complimentary items from shopping centers are being provided in some provinces to encourage people to come forth for vaccination.

 

Gen. Prayut said the government is procuring 120 million doses of vaccine for next year, to be administered as booster shots.

*NNT contributed to this report

 

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https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1465845206700355584

 

The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 14.07 million across Southeast Asia, with 26,937 new cases reported on Tuesday. #Asean #COVID19 #TheNationThailand

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40009466

Phuket 92 new cases and no deaths

https://www.facebook.com/NewshawkPhuket/posts/3047714848811684

PCR test positive cases, total of 4,886 official new infections. 43 official covid deaths recorded.

 

Rapid tests positive cases, 1,651 bringing the total of PCR and ATK results to 6,537

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

 

Rolling 7 day average chart (up to 29 Nov) and bar chart of both PCR and ATK totals

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

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha is calling on unvaccinated people, regardless of nationality, to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shot without charge at vaccination sites and mobile vaccination units.

One has to ponder this: Had this government said and done this from the beginning, and used more than just the two vaccines as originally jabbed, would they have possibly had a better response.

Edited December 1, 20214 yr by ThailandRyan

One wonders what will happen here when the first Omicron case is discovered!

UPDATE: 4,886 confirmed cases, 1,651 probable cases (ATK), and 43 deaths (0.98%). Out of 74,190 patients , 35,859 are in hospital, 29,110 in hospitel and 5,357 in home/community isolation. There are 1,351 in a serious condition (-2) with 340 on ventilators (+11) #Thailand

 

https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1465867461694156801

Edited December 1, 20214 yr by anchadian

8 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

One wonders what will happen here when the first Omicron case is discovered!

Omicron Fears: Reopening, Lockdown to be Evaluated by PM

 

BANGKOK — Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will decide whether a lockdown will be introduced if the mutant variant of the coronavirus is detected in Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health said.

 

Relevant agencies have already been instructed by the Prime Minister to closely monitor the spread of the Omicron variant, the ministry said. The tourism reopening, which began just a month ago, will also be reevaluated within 2 weeks’ time, according to public health deputy minister Sathit Pitutecha.

 

“If the Omicron strain is found in Thailand, the country will have to face another lockdown.”

 

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2021/12/01/omicron-fears-reopening-lockdown-to-be-evaluated-by-pm/

51 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

PCR test positive cases, total of 4,886 official new infections. 43 official covid deaths recorded.

 

Rapid tests positive cases, 1,651 bringing the total of PCR and ATK results to 6,537

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

 

Rolling 7 day average chart (up to 29 Nov) and bar chart of both PCR and ATK totals

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

From the graph the weekly up and down trend in cases continues as we slowly decline in overall cases.

4 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Omicron Fears: Reopening, Lockdown to be Evaluated by PM

 

BANGKOK — Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will decide whether a lockdown will be introduced if the mutant variant of the coronavirus is detected in Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health said.

 

Relevant agencies have already been instructed by the Prime Minister to closely monitor the spread of the Omicron variant, the ministry said. The tourism reopening, which began just a month ago, will also be reevaluated within 2 weeks’ time, according to public health deputy minister Sathit Pitutecha.

 

“If the Omicron strain is found in Thailand, the country will have to face another lockdown.”

Hello bells, is this man thinking he will shutter the country again....incredible.

Edited December 1, 20214 yr by ThailandRyan

1 minute ago, Bkk Brian said:

Omicron Fears: Reopening, Lockdown to be Evaluated by PM

 

BANGKOK — Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will decide whether a lockdown will be introduced if the mutant variant of the coronavirus is detected in Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health said.

 

Relevant agencies have already been instructed by the Prime Minister to closely monitor the spread of the Omicron variant, the ministry said. The tourism reopening, which began just a month ago, will also be reevaluated within 2 weeks’ time, according to public health deputy minister Sathit Pitutecha.

 

“If the Omicron strain is found in Thailand, the country will have to face another lockdown.”

 

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2021/12/01/omicron-fears-reopening-lockdown-to-be-evaluated-by-pm/

Yeah, I saw that.  Hopefully, by "lockdown" they mean tightening restrictions on air travel and not a lockdown of schools, malls, restaurants etc etc.  I can't see that ever happening again......

Wow, 60 again for a second day!

 

Health officials on Tuesday (Nov 30) reported 60 new COVID-19 cases, 18 were found in Hua Hin.

Elsewhere in the province, 6 cases were found in Pranburi, No-case in Sam Roi Yot, 2 cases in Kuiburi, 1 case in Thap Sakae, 15 cases in Bang Saphan, 5 cases in Bang Saphan Noi, and 13 cases in Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan. No death was reported on Tuesday.

 

Nov 30: Prachuap reports 60 new COVID-19 cases, 18 cases in Hua Hin - Hua Hin Today English Newspaper Info, Reports, Events and News Social Life

4 minutes ago, worrab said:

Wow, 60 again for a second day!

 

Health officials on Tuesday (Nov 30) reported 60 new COVID-19 cases, 18 were found in Hua Hin.

Elsewhere in the province, 6 cases were found in Pranburi, No-case in Sam Roi Yot, 2 cases in Kuiburi, 1 case in Thap Sakae, 15 cases in Bang Saphan, 5 cases in Bang Saphan Noi, and 13 cases in Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan. No death was reported on Tuesday.

 

Nov 30: Prachuap reports 60 new COVID-19 cases, 18 cases in Hua Hin - Hua Hin Today English Newspaper Info, Reports, Events and News Social Life

Hua Hin on the news this morning here in Bangkok.  They were talking to a vendor on the beach next to where we stayed. She said she has not seen one foreigner visit the food stands, only Thais. She must be blind.

8 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Hello bells, is this man thinking he will shutter the country again....incredible.

Yea, in the article they tell people not to panic then in the same breath say there will be a lockdown if found!

 

Personally I don't ever see a full lockdown ever again, perhaps just localized area's where its found, even then we know from experience that once one case is found there will be multiple others that escaped sequencing and already in the community. 

 

Surely now that vaccinations are at a much higher level we can avoid another lockdown, fingers crossed.

15 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Yeah, I saw that.  Hopefully, by "lockdown" they mean tightening restrictions on air travel and not a lockdown of schools, malls, restaurants etc etc.  I can't see that ever happening again......

I can certainly see it happening again.  After all, it’s happening again in places like the Netherlands and Austria.  Thailand needs to keep the virus out so that a new lockdown won’t become necessary.  Tougher border controls are essential.

1 hour ago, Macrohistory said:

I can certainly see it happening again.  After all, it’s happening again in places like the Netherlands and Austria.  Thailand needs to keep the virus out so that a new lockdown won’t become necessary.  Tougher border controls are essential.

I'd say that "keeping the virus out" is completely impossible.  It's already here and we need to live with it.  Strict border controls will have a very short-term effect, and cause misery for those affected by them. 

2 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

lockdown of schools, malls, restaurants etc etc.  I can't see that ever happening again......

Don't tempt fate ... TIT !! 

Only 83 covid samples sequenced since 1st Nov........Great job lads!

 

Thai Coronavirus Test Kits Will Detect Omicron, Or Perhaps They Won’t The Public Health Ministry can't make up its mind.

 

On Monday Dept of of Medical Sciences Director - General Supakit Sirilak asserted that both RT-PCR and antigen kits are capable of identifying covid-19 infections by Omicron variant.

 

On Tuesday Supakit elaborated saying an omicron specific testing solution has not yet been developed and it should be ready in about two weeks.

 

As of Monday they have yet to discover the variant among samples collected since Thailand's reopening to International visitors on Nov 1st. But he admitted only 83 samples had been sequenced.

 

https://bangkokherald.com/coronavirus/thai-coronavirus-test-kits-will-detect-omicron-or-perhaps-they-wont/

 

 

 

The@oc_ccsa

is calling all arrivals between Nov 15-27 from the 8 African countries that have been recently banned entry due to the #Omicron #COVID19 variant and are currently in sandbox quarantine to undergo a PCR test ASAP.

 

https://twitter.com/SaksithCNA/status/1465929681052397569

 

The@oc_ccsa

also published this (unnecessarily exoticizing) infographic, clarifying that those arriving from Africa (except for 8 countries now denied entry) from Dec 6 onwards have quarantine (either Sandbox or hotel) for 2 full weeks and undergo 3 PCR tests. #COVID19

 

Edited December 1, 20214 yr by anchadian

Of the 4,715 cases in the general Thai population, the highest numbers were 794 in Bangkok followed by 270 in Songkhla, 240 in Surat Thani, 204 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, 198 in Chonburi, 171 in Chiang Mai, 140 in Samut Prakan and 119 in Pattani.

 

https://twitter.com/ThaiEnquirer/status/1465929553725956099

 

A total of 93.23 million Covid vaccines were administered between February 28 - November 30, including 48.31 million first doses and 41.49 million second doses (57.6% of the population).

 

573,073 people were vaccinated yesterday.

 

https://twitter.com/ThaiEnquirer/status/1465930163082838026

Omicron may well be the end of this pandemic nightmare. Sure it's early days but so far no horror stories. Compare this to when Delta hit in India, it was an instant disaster, thousands of people being taken to the nearest hospitals in wheelbarrows and the backs of utes only to be turned away because there were no more ventilators. So far with Omicron we have some people feeling fatigued and with headaches. 

42 minutes ago, grain said:

Omicron may well be the end of this pandemic nightmare. Sure it's early days but so far no horror stories. Compare this to when Delta hit in India, it was an instant disaster, thousands of people being taken to the nearest hospitals in wheelbarrows and the backs of utes only to be turned away because there were no more ventilators. So far with Omicron we have some people feeling fatigued and with headaches. 

Except its not all that are suffering just fatigue and headaches. There is still a lot to discover about this variant but what you are saying is just not true and came from one Doctor who had experience of those she treated only, which happened to be near a University as reported by WHO. The symptoms for Omicron are the same as other variants of Covid.

 

There's a 400% increase in hospitalizations over the month, the head of an ICU unit has said young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care. Let alone the Dr Salim Abdool Karim said at an online health ministry press briefing. "I am expecting we will top over 10,000 cases by the end of the week per day (and) see pressure on hospitals within the next two, three weeks."

1 hour ago, grain said:

Omicron may well be the end of this pandemic nightmare. Sure it's early days but so far no horror stories. Compare this to when Delta hit in India, it was an instant disaster, thousands of people being taken to the nearest hospitals in wheelbarrows and the backs of utes only to be turned away because there were no more ventilators. So far with Omicron we have some people feeling fatigued and with headaches. 

Yes and currently no deaths reported. 
 

At the moment just a lot of hysteria and guesswork about something that has not yet arrived in this country. 

 

Understandable in some ways until the facts emerge but ultimately it will probably just result in another booster to add to the other boosters and so on………

 

“In a statement Sunday, the WHO cautioned against drawing conclusionsabout a link between the omicron variant and the increase in hospitalizations.”

 

Edited December 1, 20214 yr by Kadilo

14 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Yes and currently no deaths reported. 
 

At the moment just a lot of hysteria and guesswork about something that has not yet arrived in this country. 

 

Understandable in some ways until the facts emerge but ultimately it will probably just result in another booster to add to the other boosters and so on………

 

“In a statement Sunday, the WHO cautioned against drawing conclusionsabout a link between the omicron variant and the increase in hospitalizations.”

 

The full version being

 

Severity of disease: It is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta.  Preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron.  There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants.  Initial reported infections were among university students—younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease—but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks.  All variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that is dominant worldwide, can cause severe disease or death, in particular for the most vulnerable people, and thus prevention is always key. 

 

54 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

The full version being

 

Severity of disease: It is not yet clear whether infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta.  Preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, but this may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, rather than a result of specific infection with Omicron.  There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants.  Initial reported infections were among university students—younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease—but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks.  All variants of COVID-19, including the Delta variant that is dominant worldwide, can cause severe disease or death, in particular for the most vulnerable people, and thus prevention is always key. 

 

As the article posted by @Bkk Brian states:

 

"There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants.  Initial reported infections were among university students—younger individuals who tend to have more mild disease—but understanding the level of severity of the Omicron variant will take days to several weeks."

 

I would estimate that based upon the past experiences with the variants we have seen that we should know more in a few weeks just like the article states, and by then we will see just how far and wide the spread of Omicron has been.  Better safe than sorry and have some reactionary plans in place already like Thailand has done by reinstating the PCR test instead of the ATK they were going to for inbound air travelers.  At this point in time being overly reactionary could cause more problems for tourism.

3 hours ago, anchadian said:

 

The@oc_ccsa

is calling all arrivals between Nov 15-27 from the 8 African countries that have been recently banned entry due to the #Omicron #COVID19 variant and are currently in sandbox quarantine to undergo a PCR test ASAP.

 

https://twitter.com/SaksithCNA/status/1465929681052397569

 

The@oc_ccsa

also published this (unnecessarily exoticizing) infographic, clarifying that those arriving from Africa (except for 8 countries now denied entry) from Dec 6 onwards have quarantine (either Sandbox or hotel) for 2 full weeks and undergo 3 PCR tests. #COVID19

 

252 arrivals from 8 African countries asked to report for RT-PCR tests immediately

 

Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is appealing for 252 Thais and foreigners, who arrived in Thailand between November 15th and 27th from any of eight African countries affected by Omicron infections, to report to Thai health officials for free RT-PCR tests immediately.

 

CCSA Spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin told the media today (Wednesday) that 255 people flew into Thailand during the period, under the “sandbox” program, but three have already left the country.

 

Of those remaining, he said that 11 have been tracked down and the rest are yet to be located, adding that the CCSA is appealing to them to report immediately to the authorities, so that they can be tested to make sure they are free of the new coronavirus variant, Omicron.

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/252-arrivals-from-8-african-countries-asked-to-report-for-rt-pcr-tests-immediately/

WHO advises vulnerable, over-60s against travel over Omicron

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that while blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the Omicron variant, Covid-vulnerable people, including the over-60s, should postpone plans to travel abroad.

Omicron, the new Covid-19 variant of concern which the WHO said poses a "very high" risk globally, has prompted many countries to shut their borders.

10 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

252 arrivals from 8 African countries asked to report for RT-PCR tests immediately

 

Thailand’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is appealing for 252 Thais and foreigners, who arrived in Thailand between November 15th and 27th from any of eight African countries affected by Omicron infections, to report to Thai health officials for free RT-PCR tests immediately.

 

CCSA Spokesman Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin told the media today (Wednesday) that 255 people flew into Thailand during the period, under the “sandbox” program, but three have already left the country.

 

Of those remaining, he said that 11 have been tracked down and the rest are yet to be located, adding that the CCSA is appealing to them to report immediately to the authorities, so that they can be tested to make sure they are free of the new coronavirus variant, Omicron.

 

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/252-arrivals-from-8-african-countries-asked-to-report-for-rt-pcr-tests-immediately/

So tracking and tracing thec255 is a bit problematic. We'll that is a disturbing issue.