Thailand reports 24,592 new COVID-19 cases, 68 deaths, 21,371 recoveries

webfact · March 12, 2022

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Thailand on Saturday (March 12) reported 24,592 new COVID-19 cases, 21,371 recoveries and 68 additional deaths over the past 24 hours.

Saturday’s cases bring the total number of COVID-19 infections in Thailand to 3,161,241 with 23,643 deaths.

10 to 30 percent of daily fatalities attributed to the Covid-19 infections were not caused by the infection, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health admitted Thursday, March 10th.

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Dr. Kiattiphum Wongrajit, Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry, told the Associated Press that a new way of reporting daily fatalities must be applied as the ministry found that some of them were not mainly caused by the Covid-19 infection, with people dying “with” Covid-19 but not “from” the virus.

*THE PATTAYA NEWS contributed to this report

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anchadian · March 12, 2022

https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1502442420998656001

anchadian · March 12, 2022

https://twitter.com/ThaiNewsReports/status/1502441970685583363

Bkk Brian · March 12, 2022

PCR test positive cases, total of 24,592 official new infections. 68 official covid deaths recorded.

Rapid tests positive cases, 20,385 bringing the total of PCR and ATK results to 44,977

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/

OWD rolling 7 day average, cases and deaths up to 10th March

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand

smedly · March 12, 2022

31 minutes ago, webfact said:

some of them were not mainly caused by the Covid-19 infection, with people dying “with” Covid-19 but not “from” the virus.

he's been using Google again

ThailandRyan · March 12, 2022

Took my housekeeper to Lersdin Hospital thus morning for her work permit/blue book physical. No parking anywhere for blocks. The ER room is packed and a line queen to the street and front of the hospital. Most are migrant workers, many appear sick. We are in the back section away from most, but it's still very much real with folks turning up to do an ATK test. No PCR unless admitted to the hospital, and those I have witnessed that have tested positive since 8 am are moved to a side location outside where all are being checked for temperature etc. Will find out more later, but I thi k many testing positive will be given care packages and sent home. Waiting to see if more locations will be bubble and sealed here around the area. Truly sad.

Edited March 12, 2022 by ThailandRyan

ThailandRyan · March 12, 2022

40 minutes ago, smedly said:

he's been using Google again

Looks like they have gone to western standards as far as the verbiage used in order to try and reduce the numbers, as well as make themselves feel that they have it under control. Of course that's my view.

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 12, 2022

New official COVID cases reported Saturday declined slightly to 24,592, but COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition (1,312) and patients requiring intubation to breathe (435) both rose again to set new record highs for the year. The government also reported 68 new COVID deaths.

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

Edited March 12, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

ThailandRyan · March 12, 2022

The Que at the hospital was gone through quickly and the staff worked like a well oiled piece of machinery. I have to give credit to the medical personnel at Lersdin Hospital for their effectiveness and efficiency. Looked like only a dozen or so were positive on the tests done and were well isolated from others.

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 12, 2022

Quote

10 to 30 percent of daily fatalities attributed to the Covid-19 infections were not caused by the infection, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health admitted Thursday, March 10th.

What the article reference above fails to reflect is that the numbers being cited only reflect Thailand's official count of COVID deaths. And other, outside sources (IHME and The Economist) say that Thailand's official COVID deaths count is really a substantial undercount of all the actual deaths caused by COVID.

Thailand says 23,643 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Researchers at IHME say the true number is more than 35,000. And The Economist estimates the actual number at more than 59,000. So let's keep our eyes on the real ball here.

"Findings: Although reported COVID-19 deaths between Jan 1, 2020, and Dec 31, 2021, totalled 5·94 million worldwide, we estimate that 18·2 million (95% uncertainty interval 17·1–19·6) people died worldwide because of the COVID-19 pandemic (as measured by excess mortality) over that period."

http://www.thelancet-press.com/embargo/COVIDexcessmortality.pdf

Edited March 12, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

Bkk Brian · March 12, 2022

18 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

New official COVID cases reported Saturday declined slightly to 24,592, but COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition (1,312) and patients requiring intubation to breathe (435) both rose again to set new record highs for the year. The government also reported 68 new COVID deaths.

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

Thailand's overall positivity rate extremely high at 49.11% with some Provinces even higher, so many cases going under counted here.

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 12, 2022

So how's it really going out there on Thailand's supposed road to COVID endemic status? Every now and again, despite the stance of officialdom, glimmers of truth unintentionally shine thru, like when the government has to explain why things aren't working well:

"NHSO Secretary-General Dr. Jadet Thammathat-Aree explained yesterday (Thursday) that the main reason that this group of patients have been unable to get help from the NHSO so far is because its 1330 hotline system has been so overwhelmed with calls from patients that they cannot get through, and existing isolation facilities are full, causing another problem, which is a backlog of waiting patients who have already registered for isolation facilities.

After being made to wait for help for several days, he said that many registered patients have tried to contact the NHSO again via the hotlines and other channels, further overwhelming the system."

https://aseannow.com/topic/1253118-thailand-to-expedite-mailing-of-favipiravir-to-covid-19-patients/

ikke1959 · March 12, 2022

48 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Thailand's overall positivity rate extremely high at 49.11% with some Provinces even higher, so many cases going under counted here.

Even in countries in Europe there is still about 70k or more cases a day. Here in Thailand there should only be included ATK around 45k????

ThailandRyan · March 12, 2022

Looks like China has moved into round 3 or is ot 4 now with the lockdown of a major city of 9 million based upon the latest outbreak they are seeing. I guess they are serious about Zero Covid before they allow their folks out....Kind of glad that Thailand is seeing the light as far as semi realistic measures to open and keep the economy moving. Not sure how financially China is able to do what they are doing especially with the amount of major bankruptcies occurring.

China locks down city of 9 million amid new spike in cases (msn.com)

China on Friday ordered a lockdown of the 9 million residents of the northeastern city of Changchun amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases in the area attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant.

Residents are required to remain at home, with one family member permitted to venture out to buy food and other necessities every two days. All residents must undergo three rounds of mass testing, while non-essential businesses have been closed and transport links suspended.

The latest lockdowns, which also include Yucheng with 500,000 people in the eastern province of Shandong, show China is sticking to the draconian approach to the pandemic it has enforced for most of the past two years, despite some earlier indications that authorities would be implementing more targeted measures.

anchadian · March 12, 2022

Thai healthcare will buckle if Covid surge goes unchecked, warns expert

With infections from the highly transmissible Omicron variant surging in Thailand, steps should be taken to stop the crisis from getting out of hand as it has done in Europe, a medical expert warned on Saturday.

https://www.nationmultimedia.com/in-focus/40013322

ThailandRyan · March 12, 2022

24 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Thai healthcare will buckle if Covid surge goes unchecked, warns expert

With infections from the highly transmissible Omicron variant surging in Thailand, steps should be taken to stop the crisis from getting out of hand as it has done in Europe, a medical expert warned on Saturday.

https://www.nationmultimedia.com/in-focus/40013322

Now that's a headline story.

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 13, 2022

Once again, it looks like there's no forum news story update on Sunday regarding today's COVID update. So I'll post it here, same as last Sunday:

Newly reported official COVID cases declined for a second consecutive day on Sunday, which is not uncommon for weekend periods, while serious COVID cases in hospital and patients requiring intubation to breathe again both rose slightly to set new record highs for the year. Official COVID deaths dropped from 68 on Saturday to 66 on Sunday.

Despite 60+ new official COVID deaths occurring daily, the count of total serious COVID cases in hospital has risen every day for at least the past six days, and the count of intubated COVID patients has risen for five of the past six days.

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

For added context, during the peak of the Delta wave last fall, Thailand's daily COVID case count topped out at 23,418, but the numbers of serious hospital cases and intubated patients peaked above 5,600 and 1,100 respectively, and daily deaths topped 300 for a brief period.

Edited March 13, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 13, 2022

And MoPH breakdown of the day's 66 official COVID deaths:

--40 males and 26 females

--64 Thais, 1 "English" and 1 Myanmar

--Median age 75, with an age range of 4 months to 97 years

--55 of the deaths or 83% were age 60 or older

--9 of the deaths or 14% were under age 60 with chronic conditions

--2 of the deaths or 3% were under age 60 with no chronic conditions

--By province, the most COVID deaths occurred in Bangkok with 14.

https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/posts/521074659510863

Edited March 13, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 13, 2022

Yikes! Now there's a BA2.2 variant of Omicron... It's getting hard to keep up... But one thing's clear -- Thailand's NOT "done" with this yet by any means.

Screen visitors from HK, Britain to stop Omicron BA2.2 reaching Thailand, top health official warns

Arrivals from Britain and Hong Kong must be screened for the Omicron BA.2.2 subvariant, warned Public Health Commission vice chair Dr Chalermchai Boonyaleephan.

In his Blockdit post on Saturday, Chalermchai said Omicron BA.2.2 is severely impacting Hong Kong where weekly average Covid-19 infections have soared to 5,425 per million people, compared to 315 per million in Thailand.

"Meanwhile Hong Kong's seven-day death rate from Covid-19 is 30 per million people, compared to 0.85 in Thailand," he said... Chalermchai also confirmed that Omicron BA.2.2 has not yet been discovered in Thailand.

(more)

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40013339?

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 13, 2022

19 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

In his Blockdit post on Saturday, Chalermchai said Omicron BA.2.2 is severely impacting Hong Kong where weekly average Covid-19 infections have soared to 5,425 per million people, compared to 315 per million in Thailand.

"Meanwhile Hong Kong's seven-day death rate from Covid-19 is 30 per million people, compared to 0.85 in Thailand," he said...

Not sure where the guy is getting those numbers from. The MoPH international comparisons chart released on Sunday shows very different numbers, although the order of magnitude difference between HK and TH right now is huge!

Although the full version of the same chart via the weblink below shows that South Korea is actually running an even higher rate of per capita COVID cases per week, almost 39,000 per 1 million population.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=276529164652218&set=a.245678317737303&type=3

Edited March 13, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 13, 2022

I don't find many references in the news to a "BA2.2" version of Omicron as mentioned in The Nation above regarding Hong Kong.

But, I did find this one March 8 reference in the UK Daily Mail, which isn't considered a particularly credible source:

Mutant Omicron strain is killing 280 people a DAY in Hong Kong - and it's already in Australia

Hong Kong is being ravaged by a deadly new Omicron wave sweeping the city
Hundreds are dying every day with thousands dead since the middle of February
All the latest cases have been of a new mutant strain of Omicron dubbed BA2.2

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10592027/Covid-Australia-Deadly-mutant-Omicron-strain-Hong-Kong-hits-Australia.html

ThailandRyan · March 13, 2022

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Yikes! Now there's a BA2.2 variant of Omicron... It's getting hard to keep up... But one thing's clear -- Thailand's NOT "done" with this yet by any means.

Screen visitors from HK, Britain to stop Omicron BA2.2 reaching Thailand, top health official warns

Arrivals from Britain and Hong Kong must be screened for the Omicron BA.2.2 subvariant, warned Public Health Commission vice chair Dr Chalermchai Boonyaleephan.

In his Blockdit post on Saturday, Chalermchai said Omicron BA.2.2 is severely impacting Hong Kong where weekly average Covid-19 infections have soared to 5,425 per million people, compared to 315 per million in Thailand.

"Meanwhile Hong Kong's seven-day death rate from Covid-19 is 30 per million people, compared to 0.85 in Thailand," he said... Chalermchai also confirmed that Omicron BA.2.2 has not yet been discovered in Thailand.

(more)

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40013339?

China has had a major new outbreak with Omicron and today they shut down mor cities and provinces. Cant link the story but it is in the BP.

ThailandRyan · March 13, 2022

30 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I don't find many references in the news to a "BA2.2" version of Omicron as mentioned in The Nation above regarding Hong Kong.

But, I did find this one March 8 reference in the UK Daily Mail, which isn't considered a particularly credible source:

Mutant Omicron strain is killing 280 people a DAY in Hong Kong - and it's already in Australia

Hong Kong is being ravaged by a deadly new Omicron wave sweeping the city

Hundreds are dying every day with thousands dead since the middle of February

All the latest cases have been of a new mutant strain of Omicron dubbed BA2.2

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10592027/Covid-Australia-Deadly-mutant-Omicron-strain-Hong-Kong-hits-Australia.html

Would not be surprised if we have that specific variant running around here as well, but then they are not being forthcoming here with any genetic sequencing and with Songkran on the Horizon its only a matter of time for a possible upward spike again. We may never see the end of this, but where do we draw the line at getting back to normal and accepting it like we do for the annual variants of the cold virus and the Flu....

I have made sure I have had my booster. Talked to my doctor(Endocrinologist) today here in BKK, and he suggested that when my housekeeper goes for her booster as well as my GF, that they ensure they get a full vaccination jab instead of a half jab, like I had done in the US. His own opinion is that new variants of the vaccines need to be created like they do with the annual flu jabs etc....

Danderman123 · March 13, 2022

5 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I don't find many references in the news to a "BA2.2" version of Omicron as mentioned in The Nation above regarding Hong Kong.

But, I did find this one March 8 reference in the UK Daily Mail, which isn't considered a particularly credible source:

Mutant Omicron strain is killing 280 people a DAY in Hong Kong - and it's already in Australia

Hong Kong is being ravaged by a deadly new Omicron wave sweeping the city

Hundreds are dying every day with thousands dead since the middle of February

All the latest cases have been of a new mutant strain of Omicron dubbed BA2.2

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10592027/Covid-Australia-Deadly-mutant-Omicron-strain-Hong-Kong-hits-Australia.html

It’s just a cold.

TallGuyJohninBKK · March 13, 2022

Hong Kong logs 32,430 Covid-19 cases and 264 deaths as city leader concedes authorities cannot keep up with number of residents in home quarantine

Some 300,000 Covid-19 patients and their close contacts are now under home quarantine

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3170292/coronavirus-300000-patients-close-contacts-under-home

Screenshot_11.jpg.a09d1dd0c71adacf30d14d08d1aed261.jpg

Screenshot_12.jpg.e3f4c84b45f7210d64d98ace6d76c314.jpg

COVID-19 infections in South Korea are at their peak — the highest daily average reported — now at 284,805 new infections reported each day.

COVID-19 infections in Vietnam are at their peak — the highest daily average reported — now at 238,661 new infections reported each day.

https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/hong-kong/

Edited March 13, 2022 by TallGuyJohninBKK

ThailandRyan · March 13, 2022

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Hong Kong reports 32,430 COVID cases, 264 deaths | Reuters

3 hours ago — Hong Kong has recorded nearly 700,000 COVID-19 infections and about 3,500 deaths since early 2020 - most of them in the past two weeks.

HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong health authorities reported 32,430 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the city's leader said her government was trying build capacity to deal with the crisis that has swept through care homes.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/hong-kong-reports-32430-covid-cases-264-deaths-2022-03-13/

That in itself should make some people sit up and really take an introspective look into their own countries.

Bkk Brian · March 13, 2022

4 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Hong Kong reports 32,430 COVID cases, 264 deaths | Reuters

3 hours ago — Hong Kong has recorded nearly 700,000 COVID-19 infections and about 3,500 deaths since early 2020 - most of them in the past two weeks.

HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong health authorities reported 32,430 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the city's leader said her government was trying build capacity to deal with the crisis that has swept through care homes.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/hong-kong-reports-32430-covid-cases-264-deaths-2022-03-13/

2 days ago, a hospital in Hong Kong. Thankfully Thailand never experienced this bad in the course of the pandemic. I've read a couple of expert views that this is due to poor vaccination coverage and lack of previous infections due to their zero covid policy. Whatever, its ripping through relentlessly.

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has asked the public to understand its difficulties with saturated mortuaries amid the city’s Covid-19 crisis, as an image of bodies lying next to living patients on a hospital ward surfaced online.