More Omicron Cases Reported in Kalasin

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

Local authorities in the province of Kalasin reported 64 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday (Dec 25), with one doctor at Siriraj Hospital saying half of all new infections in January could be the new Omicron variant.

 

The Kalasin cluster has been linked to transmissions among staff and patrons at a pub and restaurant that were visited by a married couple on December 12 after they had contracted the Omicron strain.

 

The husband and wife had returned from Belgium on December 10 and later tested positive for the new variant after their first RT-PCR test turned up negative on arrival. They were admitted to a private hospital in Khon Kaen province on December 18 and remain under close observation in an isolated ward, according to Khon Kaen governor Somsak Jangtrakul.

 

According to Kalasin’s chief provincial public health officer, Aphichai Limanon, at least 19 musicians, wait staff and customers are confirmed to have been infected with the Omicron variant, with another 45 guests still awaiting confirmation.

 

Both the pub and restaurant have since been closed while the provincial disease control committee considers shutting down additional venues to help contain the outbreak.

 

Dr Nitipat Jiarakul, chief of Siriraj Hospital’s Division of Respiratory Disease and Tuberculosis Department, meanwhile warned that up to 50% of new COVID cases in Thailand could be caused by the highly infectious Omicron variant by mid-January. He added that the number of new daily infections could be as high as 10,000-20,000 by February.

 

Dr Nitipat noted, however, that the number of severe cases could be as low as 2% compared to the 5% average among patients who contracted previous variants. Exact numbers will ultimately depend on how well the Kingdom handles the COVID situation during the New Year period.

 

-- © Copyright NNT 2021-12-26

 

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[blackcab]

6 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

...while the provincial disease control committee considers shutting down additional venues to help contain the outbreak.

 

Too late. The virus is faster than a committee.

[Bkk Brian]

So this returning Thai couple basically had a week in the community before being detected with the virus. The genie is already out of the bottle now and the number of new cases will be only reflected by the number of tests Thailand manages to carry out.

[Kadilo]

Going by this example where one couple coming through T&G undetected has now infected so many and resulted in shutting down venues, it’s hard to understand how they are still leaving open the loophole for another 90,000 people arriving through the omicron hotspots to exploit the grandfathering loophole. 
 

They either need to reverse the decision and stop more potential clusters/lockdowns or stop playing lip service and open up for all and stop over reacting to every outbreak. 
 

 

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

15 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Going by this example where one couple coming through T&G undetected has now infected so many and resulted in shutting down venues, it’s hard to understand how they are still leaving open the loophole for another 90,000 people arriving through the omicron hotspots to exploit the grandfathering loophole. 
 

They either need to reverse the decision and stop more potential clusters/lockdowns or stop playing lip service and open up for all and stop over reacting to every outbreak. 
 

You really should stop providing misleading information. How long are you going to hold onto this 90,000 due to arrive under what 'you' call a loophole that was reported 5 days ago? Since then thousands of those arrivals have already entered, infact on Christmas Eve over 11.5k arrived. Better get your numbers up to date.

Edited December 26, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[muratremix]

Close all pubs if you want to stop covid. Nobody sits with a mask in any pub/bar.

Either accept covid and go on with life, or shut down all bars, which is better than forcing students to online education.

[JackGats]

Was this a Thai couple? It's likely then they were not required to take a PCR-Test before boarding.

[Almer]

Forget considering possible venues, 

DO IT shut them down, i see the fall of Anutin who thought and Thailand was above the lowly Omicron, not as severe but will swamp the hospital system within a month if it plays out like Europe

[4MyEgo]

Oh dear, oh my....

 

[Enoon]

2 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

So this returning Thai couple basically had a week in the community before being detected with the virus. The genie is already out of the bottle now and the number of new cases will be only reflected by the number of tests Thailand manages to carry out.

The returning couple had 9 days to acquire the virus, and for it to manifest itself, in Thailand?

 

They were clear on the 10th, they caught it in the restaurant on the 12th, by the time they did the follow up test (6-7 days after arrival) it showed up in their systems.

 

There is no fact to establish them as the origin............only scapegoating of them because of their "foreign" connection.

 

It sounds as if the staff/customers/musicians had already established a nice little "cluster" for themselves, before the "foreign" turned up.

 

The couple got it there.

 

And for "cluster" read "some recognised cases" (appearing as a coherent, circumscribed group, but in fact, because of the narrowness of the testing regime, lying within many unrecognised/unreported cases).

 

The "cluster" thing is BS.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Enoon

[jerrymahoney]

20 minutes ago, Enoon said:

The returning couple had 9 days to acquire the virus, and for it to manifest itself, in Thailand?

 

They were clear on the 10th, they caught it in the restaurant on the 12th, by the time they did the follow up test (6-7 days after arrival) it showed up in their systems.

 

There is no fact to establish them as the origin............only scapegoating of them because of their "foreign" connection.

 

It sounds as if the staff/customers/musicians had already established a nice little "cluster" for themselves, before the "foreign" turned up.

 

The couple got it there.

 

And for "cluster" read "some recognised cases" (appearing as a coherent, circumscribed group, but in fact, because of the narrowness of the testing regime, lying within many unrecognised/unreported cases).

 

The "cluster" thing is BS.

 

 

At least to date there are no reports of any Covid19-Omicron infections in Kalasin where the two returning from Belgium Thai couple had NOT visited.

[nightfox]

I'm currently in Kalasin and a lot of schools have closed for the week as a precaution. This Thai couple have basically ignited a wildfire that sooner then later will be out of control.

[hotandsticky]

1 hour ago, Almer said:

Forget considering possible venues, 

DO IT shut them down, i see the fall of Anutin who thought and Thailand was above the lowly Omicron, not as severe but will swamp the hospital system within a month if it plays out like Europe

 

 

So, remind me again, ...... what percentage are likely to require hospitalisation and ICU attention?

[Kadilo]

22 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

At least to date there are no reports of any Covid19-Omicron infections in Kalasin where the two returning from Belgium Thai couple had NOT visited.

Yes, strange coincidence eh for them not to be the original source, and now schools shut as a precaution. Doesn’t bode well for the future 90,000 visitors to Thailand under T&G

[BEngBKK]

If they god infected short before they return or in the plane the pcr test at the QA hotel will not show positive.

That is why the QA hotel give you a home test kit, so you can test your self 6 day after checking out of the hotel and send

a pic of the test result to the hotel...
 

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, BEngBKK said:

If they god infected short before they return or in the plane the pcr test at the QA hotel will not show positive.

That is why the QA hotel give you a home test kit, so you can test your self 6 day after checking out of the hotel and send

a pic of the test result to the hotel...
 

Bit like shutting the door after the Omicron has bolted. Potentially 6 days of infecting others, as in this case. 

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

So this returning Thai couple basically had a week in the community before being detected with the virus. The genie is already out of the bottle now and the number of new cases will be only reflected by the number of tests Thailand manages to carry out.

I wonder how many infected people have infected others, including families and work colleagues.. 

this isn't the final count by a long way.

[jerrymahoney]

13 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

5 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

So this returning Thai couple basically had a week in the community before being detected with the virus. The genie is already out of the bottle now and the number of new cases will be only reflected by the number of tests Thailand manages to carry out.

I wonder how many infected people have infected others, including families and work colleagues.. 

this isn't the final count by a long way.

Well according to the BaPo today of the 100 or so persons who were on a bus from Kalasin to Khon Kaen  13 DEC with the patient-zero couple have had negative preliminary antigen tests so keep wondering.

[ThaiFelix]

8 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

I wonder how many infected people have infected others, including families and work colleagues.. 

this isn't the final count by a long way.

The street where this couple live is 2 blocks away from my house.  The village head lives in the same street and I have often seen his mask less wife holding meetings on their front verandah.  Christmas morning they had their street closed off however there is a market not 100 mts away and it is not closed?  Many locals up here believe you dont need a mask if vaccinated.  Many are not vaccinated because they fear they will lose work being sick from reactions or sore arm from injection (its quite a poor village).  I'm 70 yo and not stepping out the gate for anybody!

[loong]

7 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

According to Kalasin’s chief provincial public health officer, Aphichai Limanon, at least 19 musicians, wait staff and customers are confirmed to have been infected with the Omicron variant

So what were the musicians doing there? Obviously not customers or they would have been listed as "customers".
If there were musicians performing, then it is an entertainment venue. Entertainment venues are not supposed to be open. I doubt that they were serving alcohol though (sarcasm).

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, loong said:

So what were the musicians doing there? Obviously not customers or they would have been listed as "customers".
If there were musicians performing, then it is an entertainment venue. Entertainment venues are not supposed to be open. I doubt that they were serving alcohol though (sarcasm).

Many restaurants have live music... it's like a stepping stone towards operating as a bar.

Food early evening music and alcohol later... many such venues operated near me in the locations of the university to attract the students.

[Almer]

19 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

So, remind me again, ...... what percentage are likely to require hospitalisation and ICU attention?

A small, very small number requiring hospital admission on top of all other admissions will cause a problem , i needed a 2 day stay 2 weeks ago in a Issan hospital they were on the floor in the ward or on trolleys in the corridor, and that was  before Omicron was seen  or reported here, I’m not talking ICU just a standard medical ward, so let’s go to your percentage question, easy to pull a figure out of the blue but my recent experience of a gvmnt hospital shows any  % however small will cause a problem.

[Bkk Brian]

23 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I wonder how many infected people have infected others, including families and work colleagues.. 

this isn't the final count by a long way.

Kalasin has spiked over the last few days

23rd: 6 cases

24th: 29 cases

25th: 61 cases

26th: 57 cases

 

This is minimal testing going on