Thailand detects fourth potential Omicron case, first three confirmed

[Khabib]

2 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

 

Again for you:

You've not read all reports yet, try this one from the head of an ICU in Soweto’s Baragwanath Hospital

 

“Young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care. About 65% are not vaccinated and most of the rest are only half-vaccinated,” said Mathivha. “I’m worried that as the numbers go up, the public health care facilities will become overwhelmed.”

 

Soweto, the hub of high capacity health care.

[sungod]

1 minute ago, Bkk Brian said:

 

Again for you:

You've not read all reports yet, try this one from the head of an ICU in Soweto’s Baragwanath Hospital

 

“Young people, in their 20s to just over their late 30s, are coming in with moderate to severe disease, some needing intensive care. About 65% are not vaccinated and most of the rest are only half-vaccinated,” said Mathivha. “I’m worried that as the numbers go up, the public health care facilities will become overwhelmed.”

 

Read it the numerous times you posted it, if regurgitating old news from 2 weeks ago are the best you can do....

 

CDC, WHO, Chief of the SA medical council all say mild ........

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

2 minutes ago, sungod said:

Read it the numerous times you posted it, if regurgitating old news from 2 weeks ago are the best you can do....

 

CDC, WHO, Chief of the SA medical council all say mild ........

 

 

Looks like WHO are also taking into account 2 week old reports:

 

"We certainly have information from South Africa that many of the patients that are identified with omicron have a more mild course of disease but it does take time for people to go through the full course of their infection, the full course of their disease."

 

Read it and the latest (8th Dec) from WHO says:

 

"So I only wanted to caution against any conclusions about severity of omicron yet because now we really have anecdotal information, we don't really have studies yet. There's some very good work that's happening in South Africa with patients and hospitalised patients. They're using a standardised collection form which they've been using throughout this whole pandemic and we're working with them to look at a time series of the patients now compared with the patients previous in the pandemic to look at what differences we may see."

[Airalee]

10 hours ago, vVDB said:

attention South Africa is a young country with an average age of 30 years.

Don't forget : COVID is problematic with people 50 and over ...

you have to wait to see what is happening in a country of 'old' people!

Let’s also not forget that South Africa also has an extremely high prevalence (one of the highest globally) of immunocompromised people with 19.5% of adults aged 15-49 having HIV.

 

http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022021.pdf

 

[sungod]

3 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Looks like WHO are also taking into account 2 week old reports:

 

"We certainly have information from South Africa that many of the patients that are identified with omicron have a more mild course of disease but it does take time for people to go through the full course of their infection, the full course of their disease."

 

Read it and the latest (8th Dec) from WHO says:

 

"So I only wanted to caution against any conclusions about severity of omicron yet because now we really have anecdotal information, we don't really have studies yet. There's some very good work that's happening in South Africa with patients and hospitalised patients. They're using a standardised collection form which they've been using throughout this whole pandemic and we're working with them to look at a time series of the patients now compared with the patients previous in the pandemic to look at what differences we may see."

Great, thanks for confirming initial reports from WHO are that its more mild, lets hope it stays that way.

 

certainly more upbeat that the sky is falling threads we have seen in the past.

[Bkk Brian]

2 minutes ago, sungod said:

Great, thanks for confirming initial reports from WHO are that its more mild, lets hope it stays that way.

 

certainly more upbeat that the sky is falling threads we have seen in the past.

Finally some reason! Whats clear is that there is anecdotal information and indications of it being milder but If you have underlying conditions or are of older age and are not vaccinated you could develop severe disease or there's a much higher risk of developing severe disease so it's too early to tell. Studies still need to be carried out.

 

As WHO stated in the link

[Bkk Brian]

9 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Let’s also not forget that South Africa also has an extremely high prevalence (one of the highest globally) of immunocompromised people with 19.5% of adults aged 15-49 having HIV.

 

http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022021.pdf

 

They've also got a very young population median age of 27.6 years

[Bkk Brian]

Newer report from SA WHO (9th Dec) with a few stats that have been taken. 98 on oxygen but only 4 ventilated however most people under 40.

 

Omicron spreads but severe cases remain low in South Africa

 

Research is being intensified to determine whether Omicron is fuelling the surge in cases seen in Africa. Emerging data from South Africa indicates that Omicron may cause less severe illness. Data which looked at hospitalizations across South Africa between 14 November and 4 December found that ICU occupancy was only 6.3 % – which is very low compared with the same period when the country was facing the peak linked to the Delta variant in July. Data from the same two-week period from one of the health districts most impacted by Omicron found that out of more than 1200 admissions, 98 were receiving supplemental oxygen and only four were on ventilation. This is very preliminary data with a small sample size and most of the people admitted to the health facilities were under the age of 40. As the clinical profile of patients changes, the impact of Omicron may change.

 

https://www.afro.who.int/news/omicron-spreads-severe-cases-remain-low-south-africa

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[spidermike007]

Let us hope this variant which appears to be weak and feeble, becomes the dominant variant worldwide. It could signal the end of this virus. 

 

Get thee behind us, Covid! 

[billd766]

14 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

All indicators , in the moment , point to the high probability that some form of the ever mutating virus will stay . It does not seem to disappear alone .

Would it be a good idea to build new specialized hospitals now ?

Hospitals in general are easily overwhelmed by the number of Covid admissions . To a point that normal operations of people with non life threatening cases need to be delayed .

That adds to the fact that it would be better to separate non infected persons from the infected ones anyway .

New hospitals that can specialize in the treatment of Covid cases should be built now .

I am sure that there is enough money left to do that , especially when reducing the non urgent spending for military purposes etc ...

The problem will not be the building the hospitals but in staffing them 24/7. You will need the person in charge, and then accountants, doctors, nurses, pharmacists,  auxiliaries all the way down to the cleaners, launderers, security etc. A lot of the lower paid but still essential staff can be found fairly easily, but where will you find qualified doctors and nurses who are not already employed?

 

You may be able to get enough people to staff a couple of hospitals but how many will you need and where will you site them. If there is only 1 per province you will also need quite a few in BKK, CM, CR, Pattaya and the islands.

 

You could be lucky and find empty hotels that can be converted but if you need to build from new, Thailand will get thousands of illegal workers streaming across the borders. 

 

I am not knocking your ideas, but trying to look at the practical side of the amount of people, buildings, equipment that will be required.

[tgw]

8 minutes ago, billd766 said:

The problem will not be the building the hospitals but in staffing them 24/7.

 

Quick answer: building and equipping hospitals, I mean proper buildings, not makeshift, and training new staff will probably take about the same time, at least for staff that aren't docs or nurses - but requires effort and budget for training.

 

BUT ... it might not be enough to even just replace staff that quit. Germany counts 30% LESS medical care staff than at the beginning of the pandemic.

Edited December 10, 2021 by tgw

[Blumpie]

3 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

Why are hospitalizations increasing? 

Because they hospitalize you in south africa and 75 percent of the people who are getting it show no symptoms whatsoever.  Testing is crazy there.

And everyone is confusing delta with omicron.  Omicrons numbers are staggeringly good.  

Look at the data, look at what experts are saying and, if applicable, stop reading outdated news stories.  Every day the news is nothing short of incredible with many saying this could be the end of the pandemic.  Caution is required because they wait 2-3 weeks after the cases to see if they fall over dead after week 2.  It ain't happening so far!  

They don't even have a cough with this thing!

[Blumpie]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Let us hope this variant which appears to be weak and feeble, becomes the dominant variant worldwide. It could signal the end of this virus. 

 

Get thee behind us, Covid! 

It bloody well is so far and most virologists are blown away by the recent developments.

 

[coolcarer]

37 minutes ago, Blumpie said:

Because they hospitalize you in south africa and 75 percent of the people who are getting it show no symptoms whatsoever.  Testing is crazy there.

And everyone is confusing delta with omicron.  Omicrons numbers are staggeringly good.  

Look at the data, look at what experts are saying and, if applicable, stop reading outdated news stories.  Every day the news is nothing short of incredible with many saying this could be the end of the pandemic.  Caution is required because they wait 2-3 weeks after the cases to see if they fall over dead after week 2.  It ain't happening so far!  

They don't even have a cough with this thing!

Very scientific. Pass your information onto the relevant officials. No cough, 75% no symptoms, reports are confusing delta with omicron, the numbers are incredibly good.

 

email [email protected]

[cncltd1973]

On 12/9/2021 at 6:51 AM, billd766 said:

I don't think it is a case of "letting it in", more a case of keeping it out.

 

On another level it isn't the dirty farangs bringing Omicron in as 3 of the 4 are Thais and the first one was a US/Thai dual nationality person.

It's strange that the news keeps calling that man American. If he has a Thai passport and is using it to clear Thai immigration (as travels with dual citizenship should), than why refer him as American at all? He is a Thai citizen to the immigration agent, and that's what the news should report. Calling him by his other nationality will contribute to farang xenophobia for sure. I have to think that was intended so Thailand can save a little face.????

[Stargeezr]

Any poster who says that a country is asking for people to get boosters every 3 months, is spreading fake news.

  In Canada, the recommended 3rd shot booster is 6 months after the 2nd COVID vaccine, and that is for people over 60 or

people who have compromised health problems. Stop the fake news stories please. I am hoping that Omicron

is a less serious variant for all ages, but it is still new and is being studied by a lot of labs, thankfully.

 

[Blumpie]

3 hours ago, Stargeezr said:

Any poster who says that a country is asking for people to get boosters every 3 months, is spreading fake news.

  In Canada, the recommended 3rd shot booster is 6 months after the 2nd COVID vaccine, and that is for people over 60 or

people who have compromised health problems. Stop the fake news stories please. I am hoping that Omicron

is a less serious variant for all ages, but it is still new and is being studied by a lot of labs, thankfully.

 

So far it is so don't sweat it.  ????  

 

During the last two days I have been accused of being an anti vaxxer (never ever have been) and now a fake news spreader.  

 

Does anyone want to add on that I spank babies or something?  I mean, let's get this over with.  ????  

[Stargeezr]

Blumpie, you are off the hook, it was Harrith1954, who put out 9 posts

that said that on page 2 of this post topic.

[Macrohistory]

22 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

In my opinion, the data from South Africa is still not really understandable and is contradictory. But, reading between the lines, the new variant seems mild. 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by Macrohistory

[Macrohistory]

 

[Macrohistory]

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Let us hope this variant which appears to be weak and feeble, becomes the dominant variant worldwide. It could signal the end of this virus. 

 

Get thee behind us, Covid! 

 

Ridiculous to say that Omicron is "weak and feeble."  It's only causing mild disease because so far it's only been expanding into populations in which the vast majority of people have either (a) already had Covid at some point, most likely from Delta; (b) been double (at least) vaxxed with an mRNA vaccine; and (c) are younger.  Now let's see what happens as it rapidly expands into populations of under-vaxxed (including non-vaxxed) people and older people in places like the UK, Europe, and the US.

 

Thailand, too, could well suffer because it has generally been using sub-par vaccines and has barely begun boosting.

 

 

[Khabib]

8 minutes ago, Macrohistory said:

 

Ridiculous to say that Omicron is "weak and feeble."  It's only causing mild disease because so far it's only been expanding into populations in which the vast majority of people have either (a) already had Covid at some point, most likely from Delta; (b) been double (at least) vaxxed with an mRNA vaccine; and (c) are younger.  Now let's see what happens as it rapidly expands into populations of under-vaxxed (including non-vaxxed) people and older people in places like the UK, Europe, and the US.

 

Thailand, too, could well suffer because it has generally been using sub-par vaccines and has barely begun boosting.

 

 

Which pharmaceutical company employs you, any jobs going?

[Daithi85]

4 minutes ago, Macrohistory said:

 

Ridiculous to say that Omicron is "weak and feeble."  It's only causing mild disease because so far it's only been expanding into populations in which the vast majority of people have either (a) already had Covid at some point, most likely from Delta; (b) been double (at least) vaxxed with an mRNA vaccine; and (c) are younger.  Now let's see what happens as it rapidly expands into populations of under-vaxxed (including non-vaxxed) people and older people in places like the UK, Europe, and the US.

 

Thailand, too, could well suffer because it has generally been using sub-par vaccines and has barely begun boosting.

 

 

Populations under vaxxed? South Africa has less than 30 percent fully vaccinated .so far according to the experts this variant ain't causing serious illness. 

[Macrohistory]

Just now, Daithi85 said:

Populations under vaxxed? South Africa has less than 30 percent fully vaccinated .so far according to the experts this variant ain't causing serious illness. 

 

...and almost everyone else there has had Delta or another variant.

 

[Macrohistory]

(SOURCE for below: https://twitter.com/GosiaGasperoPhD/status/1469456805491138560)

 

[Khabib]

Here's an idea, that pharmaceutical companies would think of like the plague. Why can't they take covid, and then genetically modify it so that is becomes like we hope omicron may turn out to be. Then release it into the population in order to protect naturally without all the vaccines. Guess the answer is obvious. I believe science has genetically modified mosquitoes so that any offspring they have, the females are rendered sterilised (or something like that). Any budding scientists have an opinion on that. Even if it's to say, "that's bonkers" 555

[Khabib]

We've had Hagar the horrible, Ivan the terrible, and others. I'm hoping we are currently being introduced to omicron the great.

[Khabib]

19 minutes ago, Macrohistory said:

 

...and almost everyone else there has had Delta or another variant.

 

Which kind of qualifies that natural immunity is a great defence.

[Macrohistory]

1 hour ago, Khabib said:

Which kind of qualifies that natural immunity is a great defence.

 

Great point!  So what you want to do, then, is go get yourself sick with Delta, which you regard as the more serious variant, so you can protect yourself from Omicron, which you regard as the milder variant.  Hope you will keep us posted on how this strategy works out.

 

 

[Khabib]

8 minutes ago, Macrohistory said:

 

Great point!  So what you want to do, then, is go get yourself sick with Delta, which you regard as the more serious variant, so you can protect yourself from Omicron, which you regard as the milder variant.  Hope you will keep us posted on how this strategy works out.

 

 

I had the original variant, long time ago now!