COVID infection risk raised back to ‘Level 4’ in Thailand

[arithai12]

1 hour ago, Dukeleto said:

What travel bubble with China? China currently has a zero covid policy…nobody there is going anywhere. Pity they did not have that policy in place at the very start but we all know why that was. Cheers China!

I understand that senseless bashing is the motto on this forum,
but at least please get a minimum of facts right.
For example, check what the leaders of WHO and the USA were saying
about Covid in Jan-Feb 2020, after China had already announced
the outbreak and had "that policy in place".
 

 

[IAMHERE]

With the Big Religious gathering last week is it any wonder that this week people have covid?

[RichardColeman]

11 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Thai Ministry of Public Health has once again upgraded the risk of COVID-19 infection to Level 4, the second highest level, across the country

Guess road deaths must be at the Nuclear level then

[blazes]

20 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

I understand that senseless bashing is the motto on this forum,
but at least please get a minimum of facts right.
For example, check what the leaders of WHO and the USA were saying
about Covid in Jan-Feb 2020, after China had already announced
the outbreak and had "that policy in place".
 

 

Dr Tedros Ethiopia and Lord Fauci...[Chinese assets] what a lovely couple they made as they spewed their ignorance on the world.....

[JonnyF]

Ridiculous. I thought Thailand was number 1 in the world in dealing with Covid? So why the increase? 

 

Even long termers here are dropping like flies now. I know 3 people who have left in the last month. Tourism is in the toilet, and they INCREASE the level? Wow. The administration just goes from bad to worse.

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

why 

 

Anutin explain why - you made a statement a few days ago stating Thailand was No1 in the world dealing with covid and yet other countries are dumping restrictions and Thailand is increasing them - that in my opinion is an abject failure - the rest of the world is moving on - why is Thailand going backwards ???????

Simple answer to that is, They have to be different at any cost. We are well aware that outside influence is ignored, unless it comes from mates in China.

[Henryford]

There must be a few bars/restaurants that haven't gone bankrupt yet. The Government is determined to finish the job.

[HappyExpat57]

My  family usually gets together in the states around April. This is the third year I will miss it. We're thinking October this year. By then most of the world will be just too tired and too broke to keep up this charade.

[pepi2005]

New goal in Thailand:

Becoming hub of ZERO SNIFFLES!!

 

Having the sniffles, headaches or - beware! - light fever shall be declared absolutely UNBEARABLE for Thais and tourists. ????

[Stoker58]

 Scaremongering raised to Level 4 again.

[Gentleman Roy]

A country without a clue.

 

They (the clowns in charge) simply have no plan to transition to the next stage of living with the virus

What a shame a once amazing, beautiful country is being destroyed by the ones in power.

 

[Guderian]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Thai Ministry of Public Health has once again upgraded the risk of COVID-19 infection to Level 4

But how can this possibly be? Just three days ago, Dr. Professor Lord High Priest Anutin Charnvirakul was telling us how great Thailand's his handling of the Covid situation had been, the best in the world by far in fact! Surely, the person doing this errant Covid risk upgrading must be an evil Puea Thai supporter, whose only goal is to discredit the performance of our great and glorious masters, like Prayut and Anutin, who have saved us all from this plague, lol.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

maybe there is hidden data that is not being disclosed to the public that indicates that those currently having problems with covid are either unvaccinated or have been vaccinated with sinovac (the latter which must account for a huge number of doses administered in Thailand) and I am not talking about booster single doses, of course the Thai government would never admit to this as it would be seen as yet another failure 

 

Part of it is a simple and already well discussed explanation.

 

With arrival of the Omicron variant, the protection levels of the current vaccines dropped considerably. Then booster 3rd shots were found to restore those protection levels even with Omicron.

 

But, and it's a big but, Thailand right now only has about 27% of its population having received the 3rd vaccine dose, meaning the other three-quarters of them are at considerable, increased risk from Omicron.  The game changed with Omicron, and Thailand hasn't been keeping pace.

 

 

[Gentleman Roy]

8 hours ago, Cherrytreeview said:

The UK PM has just raised our covid level to the ground.

No more government self isolation mandates and  no more free testing,

It's official, it's time to move on and live with this virus.

Yet there are various posters who think Thailand are doing a great job with covid.

It's a hokey cokey of levels up and down, 1 test then 2 tests, then live with the virus, then local governors  trying to out do themselves with closing all the local schools.

Headless chickens would be too kind.

So true. Its time all this <deleted> stops.

Even Australia who has be ridiculed by many countries, for the heavy handed stance over the past few years with lockdowns and restrictions is almost back to normal. International borders opened again, no quarantine or testing required. As from Friday mask mandates also stop and all businesses and nighclubs, bars etc are opened. And on average 20,000 cases a day Australia wide with about 1/3 of Thailand population.

 

Unfortunately Thailand is in a holding pattern and has no plan to transition to the next phase of living with virus.

[Stargeezr]

What happens in Level 5, I am curious... Did the Alpha, Beta, or Delta variants rear their ugly heads again? If people are not dying like it used to be, I can only see the Thai leadership showing just how foolish they all are.  TIT, or This is the Thai Government showing its real face? Stupid is as stupid does...

[ftpjtm]

6 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Part of it is a simple and already well discussed explanation.

 

With arrival of the Omicron variant, the protection levels of the current vaccines dropped considerably. Then booster 3rd shots were found to restore those protection levels even with Omicron.

 

But, and it's a big but, Thailand right now only has about 27% of its population having received the 3rd vaccine dose, meaning the other three-quarters of them are at considerable, increased risk from Omicron.  The game changed with Omicron, and Thailand hasn't been keeping pace.

 

 

3rd dose of an mRNA vaccine gives decent protection against Omicron. 

 

How many Thais with 3 doses have Sinovac in the mix?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Maybe folks here haven't noticed, but COVID is surging right now in numerous countries around Asia, killing victims and putting many in hospitials. It's not just Thailand by any means.

 

Hong Kong Covid surge is overwhelming hospitals, says leader

Hong Kong reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6,000 confirmed cases for a second day in a surge the Chinese territory’s leader says is overwhelming hospitals.

 

The government announced plans to have construction crews from mainland China build isolation units with 10,000 beds after crowding at hospitals forced patients to wait outdoors in winter cold.

 

There were 6,063 confirmed cases in the previous 24 hours, raising the territory’s total to 46,763. That was down slightly from Thursday’s 6,116 but one of Hong Kong’s highest daily totals.

Hong Kong has tightened travel and business controls as it tries to contain the surge.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/19/hong-kong-covid-surge-is-overwhelming-hospitals-says-leader

 

 

Covid-19: New cases climb up to 28,825 in the last 24 hours, 34 more dead

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — Public health authorities recorded 28,825 more new Covid-19 positive cases in just the last 24 hours, the highest to date since the start of the pandemic.

 

Deaths caused by the coronavirus also continued to climb, at 34 within the same period, a marked increase from a few weeks earlier when the mortality rate was mostly in the single digit.

 

A dozen of the patients were brought-in dead, the Ministry of Health’s CovidNow website reported. The ministry had reported 36 deaths yesterday.

 

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2022/02/20/covid-19-new-cases-climb-up-to-28734-in-the-last-24-hours-32-more-dead/2042670

 

 

 

[Lucky Bones]

As long as people can wear a military style uniform, complete with 20 baht shop badges on a Monday, life will be crazy.

As Macy Gray would sing, "Strange Behaviour".

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

57 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

3rd dose of an mRNA vaccine gives decent protection against Omicron. 

 

How many Thais with 3 doses have Sinovac in the mix?

 

Thailand hasn't been using either Sinovac or Sinopharm for its 3rd dose boosters -- only Pfizer, AZ and Moderna.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=319148783573705&set=a.307692548052662&type=3

 

[smedly]

4 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Maybe folks here haven't noticed, but COVID is surging right now in numerous countries around Asia, killing victims and putting many in hospitials. It's not just Thailand by any means.

you mentioned Hong Kong - not going to add anything further 

 

I watch accurate data every day from countries that actually report it, may I suggest you do likewise, omicron is no longer about detection numbers - in order for Thailand to keep its emergency decree in place they will say whatever fits their agenda 

[ThailandRyan]

9 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Thailand hasn't been using either Sinovac or Sinopharm for its 3rd dose boosters -- only Pfizer, AZ and Moderna.

 

 

 

Glad I picked up a full dose of Moderna here in the States as my booster 4 weeks ago.  Hope that it does the job as I return in just a few days. 

[smedly]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Thailand hasn't been using either Sinovac or Sinopharm for its 3rd dose boosters -- only Pfizer, AZ and Moderna.

the point being made is about - how many Thais have had 2x doses of sinovac - very likely the vast majority, does that matter - no idea

 

the critical factor with omicron is how many people are dying and how many people need to be in hospital as a direct result of catching omicron, data shows that the only huge spike was detected cases - no other data followed that trend, in fact the opposite, that is why western countries are removing restrictions, you don't shut a country down because a few people have a runny nose

[pizzachang]

9 hours ago, Cherrytreeview said:

t's time to move on and live with this virus.

Agree. "Infections" don't mean anything in the context of actual deaths and serious illness. It's well documented worldwide, which humans are "at risk".  Constant "testing" is like asking:  "Are you hungry right now"?  Always going to be some 'positive' answers

 

[Willy Wombat]

States in Alcatraz Australia are dropping nearly all of the mask mandates.

 

Thailand will catch up eventually 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

7 minutes ago, smedly said:

you mentioned Hong Kong - not going to add anything further 

 

 

Then you'd better add a bunch more Asian countries to your "brush off" list, including Vietnam and South Korea.

 

Vietnam confirms 47,192 new local Covid-19 cases

The Health Ministry announced 47,192 new domestic Covid-19 patients in 63 cities and provinces Sunday, marking a new high in single-day tally.

 

Hanoi continues to lead the number of infections with 5,102 cases, followed by the northern provinces Bac Ninh with 2,360 and Phu Tho with 1,981.

 

The Ministry of Health confirmed 78 Covid-19 deaths on the same day, raising the national death toll to 39,504. Hanoi and HCMC recorded no deaths.

 

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/vietnam-confirms-47-192-new-local-covid-19-cases-4429797.html

 

 

Coronavirus: South Korea tops 100,000 cases again

South Korea reported 102,211 coronavirus cases on Saturday, topping the 100,000 mark for a second-straight day, though down slightly from the record level reported on Friday.

 

Infections have spiked as the Omicron variant ravages the country. Cases have now doubled since South Korea first surpassed 50,000 infections on February 10.

 

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/article/3167666/coronavirus-south-korea-tops-100000-cases-again-malaysian-study-finds

 

 

[pedro01]

9 hours ago, ukrules said:

If they introduce any lockdown measures again then the truth is out - it will mean it's out of control and they can't handle it. Just watch and see.

 

They don't have to say anything, it's what they do that matters.

Out of control where?

 

Right now, i dont know a single person that has it.

 

If it was ravaging the country, we'd all be seeing it.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

23 minutes ago, smedly said:

the critical factor with omicron is how many people are dying and how many people need to be in hospital as a direct result of catching omicron, data shows that the only huge spike was detected cases - no other data followed that trend, in fact the opposite, that is why western countries are removing restrictions, you don't shut a country down because a few people have a runny nose

What's going on with COVID in the west right now is entirely different from what's going on in Asia... Cases and everything else are generally on a downtrend in the U.S., UK and elsewhere.  But it's exactly the opposite in Asia, where everything is still on the up-trend.

 

COVID cases with patients hospitalized in Thailand (regular hospitals, not "hospitels,") have grown more than four-fold just since the beginning of the year.  Daily COVID deaths have tripled.  And the Thai public health authorities expect the local growth of COVID to continue for some time ahead.

 

My compilation below of the key stats from the Thai government's daily COVID reports:

 

 

[arithai12]

I don't care very much if there's a surge in headaches. I don't think it's reason to shut down a country.

Yes, some people are dying of covid, it cannot be denied and it's sad when it happens, death is death. But they never tell us the details of these deaths: vaccinated? If so, how and when? Age? Pre-conditions? When did they seek help?

 

And most importantly, how does this compare to the number of preventable deaths from road accidents, pollution, alcohol (not just the drink, but the intoxicated behaviour). No one is banning all vehicles because of average 70 dead/day including very healthy and young people.

 

I think the Thai gov't is caught between a stone and a hard place. They want to re-open, but they have to face half of the population (mainly those on fixed income) who want zero-covid and believe that it's an imported disease that will magically stop if you close borders.

 

Let's get our lives back - though less Chinese group tours would be nice.

[LikeItHot]

The threat is still real. My ex-wife traveled to Europe and got a nasty case of COVID that included bad pneumonia. I would avoid international travel unless you are her in which case I would say Bon Voyage!

[arithai12]

6 minutes ago, pedro01 said:

Out of control where?

 

Right now, i dont know a single person that has it.

 

If it was ravaging the country, we'd all be seeing it.

 

 

I know several people who got it recently, both in Thailand and in other countries, confirmed with "positive" tests. Little or no symptoms, all of them negative after a few days at home. This includes people of 80+.