Over 200 Omicron cases confirmed in Thailand, Kalasin -Udon Thani cluster of concern

[Cadan]

Vaccines don’t work, testing don’t detect… BUT it’s a milder flu version…

can we move on ? NO NO

doubling every 2 days we have 1.6 million in 3 weeks infected

[Dialemco]

Probably many more cases in Thailand as Omicron spreads rapidly. 

[flyfrog]

Looks like there is nomore Delta? All new infections are Omecron related, weird, if you test Covid positive and ask which variant you have they cannot answer, so how they detect if you catch the Omicron??

[Skeptic7]

????????????

 

????yawn

[Mises]

[mommysboy]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Does not bode well for reinstatement of Test & Go.

Although omicron does have the capacity to overwhelm any health system, it appears to be less serious in terms of disease and severity. 

 

But there is very little compromise with it- it's either shut down Chinese style or stay open.  Half measures are half baked.

 

[koratkarlos]

Does anyone know the official booster schedule policy in Thailand?  From my reading I have seen booster after 3 months second dose AZ, Sinovac. Sinopharm 6 months after double dose of Pfizer/Moderna.  But I have seen different numbers also.  Can private hospitals bend the rules for Moderna boosters.  Thank you in advance.

[4MyEgo]

18 hours ago, ezzra said:

I can almost hear the fire bells ringing at the Anutin's office... we can only sit and wait for bad news from the government to come out any moment now...

 

 

This is the best news we have had in two years since the beginning of Covid.

 

Bring in Omicron, the entire world will have had it within 3 months, it is the end of the pandemic, nothing more than a cold, it could have went the other way and become deadlier than Delta, fortunately it didn't, so at this point in time we can thank the virus for mutating to a less sever strain so that we can eventually get back to where we were in our lives.

 

No doubt they will come up with an effective vaccine like the annual flu vaccine which is about 60% effective against the annual strain, remembering the flu also mutates and those jabs have to be tweaked annually, and at least 600,000 people die from it annually.

 

Happy days are just around the corner, cough, sneeze, honey get me some paracetamol for me headache will you.

 

[nickmondo]

more like 200k on a daily basis, and growingl.....hopefully

we need this to be the dominant variant.........then......goodbye Covid

[The Hammer2021]

2 hours ago, poohy said:

Friend in UK got it from 13 year daughter all 3x vaccinated in last few days

said its a miserable head cold symptoms with severe head aches and  body aches  

 

Hes miserable but surviving

only problem here many vaccinated with substandard concoctions e.g  sin az (me included) and in reality not a booster in sight

Oh and they wont take action cause got make few bob over new year

Miserable days ahead again

People won't accept another lockdown just because we have the technology to identify new variants especially if it appears the new variant transpire to be less damaging. What is happening in the UK is very interesting with each country reacting differently.

[terryofcrete]

205 ! Wow ! Next week 2005.... week after .... but don't forget the 5 ...

[AussieinThaiJim]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

I can almost hear the fire bells ringing at the Anutin's office... we can only sit and wait for bad news from the government to come out any moment now...

Everything Anutin says is the complete opposite! He said test and go was just put on hold ! Cancelled me thinks! This man is a joke and he’s the next PM. You have got to be joking.

[Burma Bill]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

with the husband-wife couple in Kalasin province, who recently returned from Belgium, being the origin of the most worrying cluster.

Isn't this the same couple who were tested positive in Khon Kaen on a visit to renew passports?? The cluster could expand!

[Sheryl]

22 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

Although omicron does have the capacity to overwhelm any health system, it appears to be less serious in terms of disease and severity. 

 

But there is very little compromise with it- it's either shut down Chinese style or stay open.  Half measures are half baked.

 

A major challenge for Thailand is the official policy of hospitalizing all cases, symptomatic or not. If they can find their way to revising this - similar to Cambodia's policy of considering this a normal endemic disease, testing only the symptomatic & hospitalizing only those with symptoms - then the health system will collapse very, very quickly.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The couple’s initial COVID-19 test results were negative and they travelled back to their hometown, before visiting their children in Udon Thani. Relatives who came in close contact with the couple subsequently tested positive for the Omicron variant, which is thought to have come from the couple.

There we go... 

[mancub]

10 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

A major challenge for Thailand is the official policy of hospitalizing all cases, symptomatic or not. If they can find their way to revising this - similar to Cambodia's policy of considering this a normal endemic disease, testing only the symptomatic & hospitalizing only those with symptoms - then the health system will collapse very, very quickly.

They'll need to find those cases before engaging official policy. Perhaps a large scale outbreak in a factory or similar will prompt testing, otherwise and given the "supposedly minor symptoms, can't see Joe Public rushing anywhere other than the local pharmacy !????

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

I can almost hear the fire bells ringing at the Anutin's office... we can only sit and wait for bad news from the government to come out any moment now...

Doesn't bode well for January... I can see the numbers escalating after the holiday break and mass exodus. 

[sead]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Are you trying to say the vaccines cause the virus? or are you just being sarcastic.....

Well just to point you in right direction. Yes vaccines makes new strains.

Now you know that also.

The reason we have the Omicron strain is because the virus wants to spread faster . Luckily when a virus spreads faster it's also gets weaker.. 

Virology is fun when you know about it

[Bkk Brian]

Not just in Udon Thani

 

Out of the 221 new Covid cases reported in #Bangkok between December 20 and 23, 52.9% were #Omicron, and 47.1% were Delta, the CCSA said on Friday. (1/2)

Of the 874 samples taken during the same period nationwide, 16.2% were Omicron and 83.8% were Delta. (2/2)

https://twitter.com/ThaiEnquirer/status/1474288860372733954

[chang1]

1 hour ago, flyfrog said:

Looks like there is nomore Delta? All new infections are Omecron related, weird, if you test Covid positive and ask which variant you have they cannot answer, so how they detect if you catch the Omicron??

"Looks like there is nomore Delta?" Your not looking hard enough - of course delta is still around, just less cases than omicron. 

"if you test Covid positive and ask which variant you have they cannot answer" - Just because they don't tell you doesn't mean they don't test which strain you have. Thailand was put on the UKs red list earlier this year because it was not testing enough for which strains were circulating meaning if a new strain started it would get a hold before it was discovered. 

"how they detect if you catch the Omicron??" I'm not sure but I think it's some kind of DNA sequencing. 

[IamNoone88]

Judging by how busy Don Muang was at 7am today, I think this variant is being well seeded throughout Thailand over the coming holidays.

[JimHuaHin]

Considering the hundreds of farang tourists in Hua Hin Market Village this morning, some not wearing masks I must add (no, not the people in the food court eating, people walking around!!!), I am sure there will be reports of Omicron in Hua Hin before the year is out.

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Cadan said:

Vaccines don’t work, testing don’t detect… BUT it’s a milder flu version…

can we move on ? NO NO

doubling every 2 days we have 1.6 million in 3 weeks infected

So you mean in Thailand? 

[zzaa09]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

When were they tested the second time and found to be positive with Omicron after testing negative the first time.  Makes one wonder how long its taking to sequence a test and why it can not be checked the first time.....

Or even determined to be the dreaded Omicron. 

Do they know for sure? 

 

These general standard Covid tests [not accurate] aren't able to decipher one variant from the other. 

[Virt]

15 minutes ago, sead said:

Well just to point you in right direction. Yes vaccines makes new strains.

Now you know that also.

The reason we have the Omicron strain is because the virus wants to spread faster . Luckily when a virus spreads faster it's also gets weaker.. 

Virology is fun when you know about it

If we didn't have any vaccines the virus would still mutate.

 

It's not capable of copying itself without sometimes making mistakes.

[Caldera]

It was bound to arrive in Thailand, and it is bound to spread in Thailand, no surprises there and nothing much can be done.

 

Whatever happened to the PM"s directive to learn to live with it?

[chang1]

35 minutes ago, sead said:

Luckily when a virus spreads faster it's also gets weaker.. 

Virology is fun when you know about it

This may be what commonly happens but I doubt it is certain. Viruses mutate all the time most can't replicate some can but are easily overcome by our defenses then the odd one will become transmissible it may be more contagious or it may be more dangerous when contracted. It's survival of the fittest strain but there is nothing to stop it mutating to be more easily spread and more dangerous at the same time just far rarer. Being vaccinated greatly reduces the chance of you giving covid a chance to develop a new strain. If you end up infected in  hospital for a long time, Covid has a much greater number of chances to mutate as well as a nice environment to spread in. Of course the anti vaxers would never understand this and would say it is their god given right to go out and multiply (the number of variants). They are too brainwashed to understand that being vaccinated doesn't just help them it can potentially save thousands of lives. This is also why giving vaccines to poor countries is good for everyone - was the person that omicron came from in Africa vaccinated? I doubt it.

[Negita43]

I think that we should also bear in mind that if this new variant does become dominant and its effects are less severe than the delta and alpha variants that may, in the scheme of things, be an advantage especially if the world can prevent more new variants by vaccinating all.

By all accounts Covid is here to stay so a less lethal dominant strain might not be the worst of outcomes.

[chang1]

6 minutes ago, Virt said:

If we didn't have any vaccines the virus would still mutate.

 

It's not capable of copying itself without sometimes making mistakes.

True - but...

[chang1]

1 minute ago, Negita43 said:

I think that we should also bear in mind that if this new variant does become dominant and its effects are less severe than the delta and alpha variants that may, in the scheme of things, be an advantage especially if the world can prevent more new variants by vaccinating all.

By all accounts Covid is here to stay so a less lethal dominant strain might not be the worst of outcomes.

If you catch and survive covid it is going to give some temporary protection but it will weaken over time so no getting around the need for boosters. 

On the other hand a policy of spreading a very weak but highly transmissible strain now and then may be easier than using vaccines. A bit science fiction at the moment but in a hundred years or so definitely a possibility. I should patent that idea.