Phuket proposes to be a pilot province for treating Covid-19 as an endemic disease by reducing restrictions, stop case reporting, and halve quarantine days for positive cases, Deputy Governor says

[webfact]

PHOTO: Prachachat

 

By Nop Meechukhun

 

Phuket – Phuket’s Deputy Governor today, February 20th, announced the island’s readiness to be a pilot area for treating Covid-19 Coronavirus as an endemic disease, reducing restrictions and the number of quarantine days for infected patients.

 

Deputy Governor Phichet Panaphong told the press that the island was willing to be the first pilot province to declare Covid-19 as an endemic disease. However, it must be done under preventive measures and criteria. For instance, there must be no more than 0.1 percent of the population in terms of fatalities, as well as other requirements and conditions set by the Ministry of Public Health.

 

Moreover, Phuket could be a pilot province to reduce the quarantine period if positive for Covid-19 or a high-risk contact from 10 days to what they propose as the 5:5 method. 

 

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Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2022/02/20/phuket-proposes-to-be-a-pilot-province-for-treating-covid-19-as-an-endemic-disease-by-reducing-restrictions-stop-case-reporting-and-halve-quarantine-days-for-positive-cases-deputy-governor-says/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2022-02-21

 

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[ThailandRyan]

Since Phuket is leading the country with per-capita cases of Covid, if they stop reporting as the OP discusses then the concern would be what is happening and why.  If they are going to call it endemic then lift all of the restrictions and lets get on with "Learning to live with covid", by being responsible individuals and taking care of not only ourselves but our families and hope that others do the same....

[smedly]

it is not helpful to treat part of Thailand differently, it is about time the government and the CCSA took a bold step for the whole country and dumped restrictions and ended their destructive emergency decree, it is now very obvious the direction of omicron and how other countries are now dealing with it - time to move on and get things back to normal (not new normal) - normal, we have had over two years of this - time to end it and not just in Phuket

[ikke1959]

Stop the reports of the cases, so the island looks safe , tourists can come in...Good move they think, but is it wise??? less quarantine, less restrictions at this moment when cases rise day by day. The worst has yet to come according to Dr Yong with maybe 100.000 cases a day..i think waiting a few weeks and looks how things are developing would be better

[Bkk Brian]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Phuket – Phuket’s Deputy Governor today, February 20th, announced the island’s readiness to be a pilot area for treating Covid-19 Coronavirus as an endemic disease, reducing restrictions and the number of quarantine days for infected patients.

The correct message to portray. Ensure the health system monitors the virus and is transparent with information however. For those needing to protect themselves, they need to know the risk.

[Dukeleto]

If you are going to down grade it to an endemic status like flu then treat it as such, no restrictions no testing no forced quarantine etc. This is what an endemic disease looks like. Anything else simply means you can be forced to test, be quarantined and have your holiday ruined. I won’t return until it’s all gone and the original normal is back in place which means being greeted by an immigration officer who is clearly unhappy to be stamping my passport.????

[Karma80]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Since Phuket is leading the country with per-capita cases of Covid, if they stop reporting as the OP discusses then the concern would be what is happening and why.  If they are going to call it endemic then lift all of the restrictions and lets get on with "Learning to live with covid", by being responsible individuals and taking care of not only ourselves but our families and hope that others do the same....

Take a look at daily life in Phuket. There is a marked difference in the behaviour of tourists and residents already. A generalisation would be the tourists don't give a stuff, and the residents try to do their best in being responsible.

 

I think Thailand is maybe 24% vaccinatd with a booster. In Phuket, Thais and work permit holders were given Sinovac several months ago as it prepared for the sandbox. There are rounds of boosters still being rolled out.

 

Point being, it's all very well calling for the lifting on restrictions, with pressure from hotel groups on the Phuket governor, but is Thailand actually ready to deal with widespread endemic transmission? 

[Bkk Brian]

6 minutes ago, Karma80 said:

Take a look at daily life in Phuket. There is a marked difference in the behaviour of tourists and residents already. A generalisation would be the tourists don't give a stuff, and the residents try to do their best in being responsible.

 

I think Thailand is maybe 24% vaccinatd with a booster. In Phuket, Thais and work permit holders were given Sinovac several months ago as it prepared for the sandbox. There are rounds of boosters still being rolled out.

 

Point being, it's all very well calling for the lifting on restrictions, with pressure from hotel groups on the Phuket governor, but is Thailand actually ready to deal with widespread endemic transmission? 

Boosters have been ongoing for months here in Phuket, everyone that was due one and wanted one has had the opportunity to get it.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Moreover, Phuket could be a pilot province to reduce the quarantine period if positive for Covid-19 or a high-risk contact from 10 days to what they propose as the 5:5 method. 

Will that apply to foreign visitors as well as locals?

[JimHuaHin]

45 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Boosters have been ongoing for months here in Phuket, everyone that was due one and wanted one has had the opportunity to get it.

Really?

 

I wish one could say the same for Hua Hin.

[Artben]

By all means, stop reporting.  What could possibly go wrong?  Maybe a new more virulent strain of Covid will appear but if it's not reported it will not be a problem.  Right.  OH!! Maybe that's what China did in early 2019.  

[fuehrio]

The entire country should lift all restrictions, no more masks and no vaccine / quarantine requirements when entering. It's over!

[MrJ2U]

They'll treat the virus better than the tourists.

 

Thats very nice of the big tourist operations owners that'll be safe somewhere else. 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2022 by MrJ2U

[KhunLA]

Finally, some common sense being exercised.  Kudos Phuket ... may the rest of the world follow.

[MrJ2U]

20 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Finally, some common sense being exercised.  Kudos Phuket ... may the rest of the world follow.

Common sense in not reporting cases?

 

More of hide the problem under the rug.

[Jimbo2014]

Europe, the UK and America are starting to move on from Covid.  Omicron has a tiny casualty rate when compared to other preventable causes of mortality such as pollution, road accidents, T2 diabetes.  Maybe Thailand should consider the same before more economic damage.

[soumanioco]

For everyone fantasising going back to "normal".

We've added a new disease to our population, more infectious and more severe than flu. 

The world pre 2020 no longer exists -we may want it to but it just doesn't. 

So wake up already and deal with it. 

[internationalism]

so what about cancelling 5th day test for T&G and sandbox?

what about quarantine for those incomers tested positive on day 1? 

That changes are beyond competence of a local government. Surely, the central government would object for different rules for Thailand Pass.

 

If that is sorted, phuket might take some potential travellers from the other airports

And what about compulsory negative test when leaving phuket by air to Bangkok and elsewhere?

Chances of being positive are high, so going back to quarantine for 5 days and self-isolation for another 5 days.

Those, who would like to move from phuket to the other provinces might be stacked put there on island for long. Possibly all right for tourists (who are minority), but not for all the other travellers

Edited February 21, 2022 by internationalism

[Bkk Brian]

6 minutes ago, internationalism said:

so what about cancelling 5th day test for T&G and sandbox?

what about quarantine for those incomers tested positive on day 1? 

If that is sorted, phuket might take some potential travellers from the other airports

And what about compulsory negative test when leaving phuket by air to Bangkok and elsewhere?

Chances of being positive are high, so going back to quarantine for 5 days and self-isolation for another 5 days

Yes absolutely, that's a huge one that all needs to be addressed but at least Phuket is putting itself out there and sending a positive message to the government that it wants to live with this thing. Phuket is highly vaccinated and boosted up so there is no reason at all why that should not be the case.

[MrJ2U]

42 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Accept it's a big nothing.  People die, get over it. and 0.1 % is not a pandemic.  Enough with the scare mongering for profits.  Thankfully people, worldwide are waking up to the farce that was.

 

Yes, in the beginning it was a bit scary, if high risk, but as viruses do, it has mutated itself down to common seasonal flu level, and hopefully stays there.  Far scarier things out there, and most would welcome a 0.01% of dying of whatever when told by their doc they have been diagnosed with whatever.

 

 

Huge problem with no hospital beds and overwhelmed hospital staff.

 

No ICU beds left in many provinces.

 

People that want to come to Thailand can.  Many do.

 

People who want to come to Thailand but don't probably shouldn't because they won't be financially able to handle the chance of being hospitalized and are better off staying close to home.

 

Hopefully things change in a few years.

[JetsetBkk]

From the title:

stop case reporting

- crazy.

 

 

[KhunLA]

35 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

From the title:

stop case reporting

- crazy.

 

 

Crazy was why report them 'everyday' in the first place.  That's nuts. 

 

Why isn't road deaths the headliner everyday, or cases of cancer and daily dead count (2019, 73,000 patients have died) a headliner everyday.  3X as many, and much higher mortality rate than covid ... and yet ... no daily, weekly, monthly press conference.

 

The silliness has to end.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/number-one-cause-of-death-among-thais-is-cancer-related-diseases 

 

If posting thaiger link not allowed, apologies & please delete.

Edited February 21, 2022 by KhunLA

[Trujillo]

"LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - People in England with COVID-19 will from late February no longer be legally required to self-isolate to stem the spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday, proposing to speed up existing plans to live with the virus.

 

Johnson ended almost all COVID-19 restrictions in England last July, and last month lifted "Plan B" measures that had been temporarily imposed to slow the spread of the more recent Omicron variant of the coronavirus."

 

Hey Thailand...isn't this the same virus? Or is the one in Thailand different and needs special heightened madness mandates? 

[Bkk Brian]

8 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Crazy was why report them 'everyday' in the first place.  That's nuts. 

 

Why isn't road deaths the headliner everyday, or cases of cancer and daily dead count (2019, 73,000 patients have died) a headliner everyday.  3X as many, and much higher mortality rate than covid ... and yet ... no daily, weekly, monthly press conference.

 

The silliness has to end.

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/number-one-cause-of-death-among-thais-is-cancer-related-diseases 

 

If posting thaiger link not allowed, apologies & please delete.

They are not suggesting no reporting of all cases, just those that are asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms, the yellow, red, and black cases, depending on the severity will still be reported. Personally I think its a good proposal as it keeps the situation transparent without causing undue public concern of numbers of people found positive when most are mild or asymptomatic.

 

Road deaths are reported daily in the news media in Phuket, nationally there were 21 road deaths yesterday and 30 covid reported deaths.

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Road deaths are reported daily in the news media in Phuket, nationally there were 21 road deaths yesterday and 30 covid reported deaths.

21 ... that's an off day.  ????

 

So 30 died 'with' covid, not necessarily from covid.  Some could have easily died with common cold or seasonal flu, as the last straw.  If they are going to post the daily death count, I'd like specifics, as most are very old and or had other health issues.

[connda]

Quote

halve quarantine days for positive cases

So foreigner's force incarceration will only cost them 50,000 THB. 

[Bkk Brian]

29 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

21 ... that's an off day.  ????

 

So 30 died 'with' covid, not necessarily from covid.  Some could have easily died with common cold or seasonal flu, as the last straw.  If they are going to post the daily death count, I'd like specifics, as most are very old and or had other health issues.

Yes the day before it was 20 road deaths and 29 covid deaths another off day. As for how Thailand classifies covid deaths I wouldn't be too concerned on over reporting....lol

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, connda said:

Quote

halve quarantine days for positive cases

So foreigner's force incarceration will only cost them 50,000 THB. 

I don't care - I'm not a foreigner. I live here.

[Sydebolle]

Good luck; the tourists meanwhile chose mostly to go elsewhere with more common sense, less idiocy and "readiness" for whatever-funny-dreams the chief in clown and his minions can come up with! 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Interesting that Phuket is proposing this at the very same time as the MoPH produces a graphic, as of several days ago, saying the province is already almost at full capacity (12 of 14 beds used) for its relatively few hospital beds (Level 3) capable of handling the most seriously ill COVID patients.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=317236350431615&set=a.307692548052662&type=3