Are we coming to the end of the pandemic in Thailand?

[webfact]

file photo

 

ANALYSIS | by Michael Bridge

 

Gradually we are starting to see a drop in the number of Covid cases across Thailand.

 

In the 24-hour period since the last count on May 3rd, the CCSA recorded 9,721 new Covid-19 cases and 20,145 recoveries. 

 

Meanwhile, there are now 118,567 people in Thailand being treated for Covid-19.

 

The number of deaths is also decreasing with seventy-seven coronavirus-related deaths were reported by the CCSA on May 3rd.

 

The trend for deaths continues to drop. 

 

It was sitting above one hundred deaths per day during April.

 

The anticipated major spike after the Songkran migration has also not materialised, which is a relief for the medical experts and the government.

 

SE Asia also sees decreases

 

The good news is that covid cases are dropping not just in Thailand but also across SE Asia. 

 

According to statistics published by John Hopkins, over a 14-day period from April 19th to May 2nd Vietnam had a total of 180,830 new cases.

 

During the same period, the Philippines had 2,781 cases, Cambodia 178 cases, Malaysia 54,694 and here in Thailand, we had 217,692 cases.

 

For the first time since July 25th last year, Vietnam has recorded no new daily Covid-19 deaths on May 3rd, 2022.

 

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On Tuesday, the country recorded 2,709 new infections, bringing the total infection tally in the fourth wave to 10,516,539.

Covid infections are also decreasing in the Philippines with 197 new cases reported on average per day.

Thirteen deaths on May 2nd compared to 255 on the 18th of September.

Borders open

Common sense seems to be taking over as governments not just in SE Asia but also around the globe are allowing travellers in too.

Although not back to the millions who used to holiday in Thailand in the pre-pandemic days, over 21,000 made the journey to Suvarnabhumi Airport on May 1st the first day of relaxed travel restrictions.

Of course, people are still catching Covid, but now the vast majority are getting the Omicron variant, which as most of us know is similar to having a bad case of influenza.

A few days of self-isolation and you are back on your feet.

As discussed many times before, governments often needed to weigh up the loss of life via Covid with the loss of revenue from closed borders.

With more and more airlines adding flights, it would seem the battered Thai hospitality industry is, at last, being given the kiss of life.

 

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[Rockhound]

There is nothing gradual now with the drop in cases:  They are plummeting.  Exactly has they have in every other country as soon as the virus did what it had to do.  THe longer you try to fight it the longer it took to get over it.  

[blazes]

I've been waiting for 8/9 months to see what sort of "spikes" would emerge from all the football matches played all over Europe.  Every Saturday, all season, you could see 60,000 people sitting or standing cheek by jowl.

 

So where were the deathly "spikes' arising from all those occasions?

 

Clearly the media (who were so happy to spread hysteria at the beginning of the epidemic) could find nothing sexy about headlines proclaiming "No deaths from  Covid this week among Man Utd supporters."

[Rockhound]

"The anticipated major spike after the Songkran migration has also not materialised, which is a relief for the medical experts and the government."    Governments around the world listened to the wrong "experts"...

[rabang]

Nature works as it always has and the virus runs its course the natural way. Of course vaccinations and treatments help but people feeling omnipotency think they can control everything which is not true.

[RandiRona]

I am thinking what would happen to those scaremongers who were competing with doomsday preppers. I guess they can find at home in China!

[Expat68]

Do not believe for one minute that this is finishing, I know of entire families who have/had covid19, none of them have reported it

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, blazes said:

I've been waiting for 8/9 months to see what sort of "spikes" would emerge from all the football matches played all over Europe.  Every Saturday, all season, you could see 60,000 people sitting or standing cheek by jowl.

 

Well at the start of the pandemic football matches in Italy were very much a source of rampant infections... but now we have vaccinated people and a less serious strain.... Omicron did the job for us. After avoiding handshakes for 2 weeks the winner of the world snooker championship in the UK grabbed onto his defeated opponent like a long lost lover, so they think it is done with there...and stats appear to support that. 

When daily deaths roll off to low numbers here, it is done with!

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Gradually we are starting to see a drop in the number of Covid cases across Thailand.

Personally I'm reading government figures which say a drop in reported cases, however around me where I live I see many with infections, and not decreasing.

[Bangkok Barry]

4 minutes ago, Expat68 said:

Do not believe for one minute that this is finishing, I know of entire families who have/had covid19, none of them have reported it

Me too. A cousin has people with Covid next door to the left, next door to the right and across the road too. Many, many people have it in my wife's village. And not one of all these people has reported it to anyone, just done the sensible thing and stayed home for a few days. The true numbers are massive and possibly 50x more than the official figures - and it doesn't matter. Those who were vulnerable have probably long ago died or suffered in ICU and the rest of us can handle it just fine.

[Spilornis]

Cases will continue especially in countries where testing levels are reasonable.

On the other hand it seems that the present strains can be handled by health services without the need for the drastic measures we have seen for the last two years.

Definitely time to remove the outdoor mask mandate in Thailand

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, Spilornis said:

Definitely time to remove the outdoor mask mandate in Thailand

This is not a priority.... if people feel better wearing masks I say let them. Not really much of a mandate these days as so many are not bothering. Other restrictive regulations should be rescinded now. 

[zzaa09]

Looking forward to the next era of manufactured and manipulated hysteria. 

Wonder what they'll come up with next.....

[RichardColeman]

Like to see the plunging new cases graph overlayed with a 'real' daily testing graph

[ifmu]

56 minutes ago, Expat68 said:

Do not believe for one minute that this is finishing, I know of entire families who have/had covid19, none of them have reported it

as have i  ..... chiang dao and chai prakan

[vandeventer]

45 minutes ago, Expat68 said:

Do not believe for one minute that this is finishing, I know of entire families who have/had covid19, none of them have reported it

Yes, that's the new in thing now! Why go to the hospital and pay for cheap treatment when you can go to your local chemist and get the good stuff. These people don't say at home either. It's going to take a lot longer than most think yo get rid of covid.

[blazes]

48 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Looking forward to the next era of manufactured and manipulated hysteria. 

Wonder what they'll come up with next.....

Well, if this week's mass hysteria in the so-called "progressive" media is anything to go by, the next "manufactured" hysteria is already upon us:  Elon Musk has dared to challenge  the Twittersphere's censorship monopoly.

 

Pravda's children are not amused.

[tandor]

...well Mr. M. Bridge..there are a lot of things you have failed to mention and factor in, namely - 

1.   You need to wait until there is only one infection per 100,000 persons before a pandemic is declared over,

2.  There is no random or bulk testing done any longer,

3.  There is no ATK or PCR analysis for Sars Covi-2done in public hospitals any longer, user pays.

4.  More citizens need to be vaccinated to speed up the process.

The whole system is flawed.

The other down-side is now that there is no Sars Covi-2 PCR test analysis, the WHO are unable to collate data they once had regularly to inform countries of the evolving of variants and sub-variants.

[Ralf001]

Must be nearly time for the new variant to be released to bolster the pandemic before it fizzles out...

[Walker88]

I'm slowly coming to really and truly understand things in this country. Everything is what you say it is, even if it isn't. What does objective reality know about anything? Also, logic is based not on some objective fact, but on false assumptions or societal norms and wishes.

 

Case in point: As others have mentioned here, lots of cases are going unreported. Therefore, they do not exist. A friend went to visit family in Isaan. Everyone in the village caught Covid. While visiting, my friend caught Covid. No one reported it to anyone. Anecdotal, yes, but I'm going to guess it's not an isolated incident. My friend went to a clinic for treatment, and of course got the usual package of Cure-All:  electrolytes, paracetamol, and antibiotics (for a viral infection?). It took her three weeks to recover, though with the constant stream of antibiotics she is given for everything from Covid to back pain, her gut biome is likely messed up for the next decade. Plus, lots more bacteria are going to evolve into something drug resistant, like MRSA, now resistant to the most powerful frontline antibiotics. Woe is us....or not, if we pretend it's no problem.

 

Another oddity: bars and agogos are now 'restaurants', despite the only food being olives in martinis or limes in a G&T or on a bottle of SML or Corona. That's okay. What is NOT okay is that the restaurant's 'floor show performers' must not be wearing bikinis, as everyone knows bikinis cause Covid. Cocktail dresses, on the other hand, work better than masks or vaccines at preventing Covid, and seem to allow for a total relaxation of social distancing.  WHO and Dr Fauci had better get on top of that, and the CP of China should issue cocktail dresses to all the residents of Shanghai, then open their doors again, with a hat tip to the RTP.

 

It's simple when you know how the Universe actually works.

 

 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Walker88

[Captain Monday]

1 hour ago, Expat68 said:

Do not believe for one minute that this is finishing, I know of entire families who have/had covid19, none of them have reported it

How many are asymtomatic? Are any of them ill enough to require hospitalization or intensive treatments? The virus is everywhere, it is never going away, and will come and go seasonally perhaps even taking over from the prevalent flu strains. Keep vaccinating, keep common sense public health measures and do best to protect the most vulnerable. Time for pseudoscientific  theatrics and lockdowns is over. The pandemic ends when governments say so. Appears some of these governments, mostly in East Asia, are reluctant to "let it go". ???????? ????????????????????????

[spidermike007]

Let us hope so. It is surely endemic by now. Few are getting seriously iill, and very few are dying.

 

Can we scrap the ridiculous cloth masks, please? I was in a restaurant yesterday. Was asked to put on my mask while walking around. Huh? And then take it off when I sit down? 

 

Where is the science? How long will it take to stop the Zombie panic? 

Edited May 5, 2022 by spidermike007

[webfact]

COVID-19 - May 5: Thailand reports 9,790 new coronavirus cases, 17,109 recoveries, 54 deaths

 

 

 

[swm59nj]

Kind of odd that the numbers drastically dropped almost  overnight.  Especially since all the talk lately about tourism and changes.  

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Personally I'm reading government figures which say a drop in reported cases, however around me where I live I see many with infections, and not decreasing.

Seems like more people getting infected everyday.

 

Absolutely no help like food or medicines distribution to the elderly or infirmed though.

 

A stay at the dilapidated  "Gulag " hospital starts at 10,000 baht.

 

Luckily its mild and I haven't heard of any fatalities from the virus.

 

No boosters available in the province, Sakon Nakhon.

  

[DRD123]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

This is not a priority.... if people feel better wearing masks I say let them. Not really much of a mandate these days as so many are not bothering. Other restrictive regulations should be rescinded now. 

Micro plastics deep in your lung and into your bloodstream.....not  a priority to get rid of masks? Have you seen the CDC data., no difference in mask/non masked individuals. New large study yesterday showing markedly higher mortality with those wearing from Israel. Why do people think anything govt's did was the 'right thing." Wait until you read the Pfizer data dump that came out yesterday. My god we are a stupid species.

[IamNoone88]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Gradually we are starting to see a drop in the number of Covid cases across Thailand.

Of reported cases. The actual is much higher. Mine was not reported nor was the 2 other contact cases. All ATK diagnosed. Under reporting is huge.

[actonion]

A   drop in the number of Covid cases  i believe is because people are not reporting it .....too many people afraid of being  held  in a community   warehouse  type hospital,   or being sent to an outrageously expensive private hospital are now taking care of themselves elsewhere

[dinsdale]

Pandemic has been over for a while. This is already endemic such is the common cold although these Omicron variants are much more transmissable. 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Of course, people are still catching Covid, but now the vast majority are getting the Omicron variant, which as most of us know is similar to having a bad case of influenza.

I think most of us know that Omicron has multiple and varied symptoms from no symtoms at all or a runny nose with a bit of a sore throat, bad headache, fatigue, the list goes on, to feeling rather horrible for a few days so the above comment is obviously made without any knowledge of this variant and it's symptoms. 

Edited May 5, 2022 by dinsdale

[dinsdale]

52 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Let us hope so. It is surely endemic by now. Few are getting seriously iill, and very few are dying.

 

Can we scrap the ridiculous cloth masks, please? I was in a restaurant yesterday. Was asked to put on my mask while walking around. Huh? And then take it off when I sit down? 

 

Where is the science? How long will it take to stop the Zombie panic? 

Agree although I think individual responsibilty should be pushed i.e. if you are symptomatic wear a mask. This should also be the case with just the common cold. Let me also say that the body temp detectors are nxt to useless. Even Delta did not always present with fever. Omicron even less so. Absolutely everything should be open and should've been for some time.