Covid-19 inpatients and deaths surge by 150% in Thailand after Songkran celebrations

[Bkk Brian]

6 hours ago, rabang said:

Latest study on mask wearing shows that there is no evidence of their effectiveness. Let's see if this one passes the censorship.

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full#CD006207-sec-0008

 

https://maryannedemasi.substack.com/p/exclusive-lead-author-of-new-cochrane
 

 

Your claim is not valid.

 

Cochrane have since issued a statement just last month.

 

Many commentators have claimed that a recently-updated Cochrane Review shows that 'masks don't work', which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation.

https://www.cochrane.org/news/statement-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses-review

 

People online are touting the results of a Cochrane review to incorrectly claim that it shows masks “don’t work” against the coronavirus.

https://www.factcheck.org/2023/03/scicheck-what-the-cochrane-review-says-about-masks-for-covid-19-and-what-it-doesnt/

[sungod]

22 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

Yes, definitely since previous exposure doesn't seem to help. 

Really, previous exposure gives you absolutely no protection at all?

 

Link please.

[sungod]

On 4/29/2023 at 6:38 PM, MrJ2U said:

Just got back from Pattaya.

I wasn't feeling well so took a test.

 

COVID-19 for the second time and 4 vaccines.   Pretty bad headache and terrible fatigue.

Harsh cough and minor sore throat.

 

Wife has gotten it now so we're staying a few nights at a hotel room in Udon Thani so the our children don't catch it. 

 

We pretty never went anywhere as it was business and stayed relaxing in the room with air-conditioning and TV.  

 

Very contagious.  Probably thousands getting it. 

I've had it 2 times as well. The last time was so minor you would have thought it just a bug. But I had a spare kit and tested.

 

I got double vaccinated with AZ years ago, no boosters. Kids have not been vaccinated and only had it once, they are at school with hundreds of other kids each day.

[onthedarkside]

False claim conspiracy post removed.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Update with latest weekly COVID hospitalizations report for April 23-29:

 

 

 

[MrJ2U]

1 hour ago, sungod said:

Really, previous exposure gives you absolutely no protection at all?

 

Link please.

That was in reply to a poster who frequently posts anti vaccine and conspiracy theories.

 

 

I believe having vaccines along with exposure should help alleviate the worst symptoms.

 

At the moment we're still semi -quarantined until we get negative tests so we can get home and be with the kids.

 

School starts on the 15th.  They'll most likely be another wave after that. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Prior vaccinations and prior infections BOTH provide SOME protection against being infected and having COVID illness now...

 

Although, as the virus continues to mutate, the longer in the past a person had a prior infection or a prior vaccination, the less their protection is going to be in current time.

 

In general, public health experts advise that vaccination is a better protection against COVID than mere past infection alone, in part because vaccinations don't carry the same extent of current and future health risks/complications as COVID infections do.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[rabang]

7 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

Your claim is not valid.

 

Cochrane have since issued a statement just last month.

 

Many commentators have claimed that a recently-updated Cochrane Review shows that 'masks don't work', which is an inaccurate and misleading interpretation.

https://www.cochrane.org/news/statement-physical-interventions-interrupt-or-reduce-spread-respiratory-viruses-review

 

People online are touting the results of a Cochrane review to incorrectly claim that it shows masks “don’t work” against the coronavirus.

https://www.factcheck.org/2023/03/scicheck-what-the-cochrane-review-says-about-masks-for-covid-19-and-what-it-doesnt/

From your link:

 

Quote

It would be accurate to say that the review examined whether interventions to promote mask wearing help to slow the spread of respiratory viruses, and that the results were inconclusive. Given the limitations in the primary evidence, the review is not able to address the question of whether mask-wearing itself reduces people's risk of contracting or spreading respiratory viruses. 

I would highlight the word inclonclusive. If we are to mandate mass masking we would have to be absolutely sure that they work and there is clear evidence for their effectiveness, that they make a statistical difference, especially as they clearly have a large negative impact from different points of view.

Edited May 1, 2023 by rabang

[Bkk Brian]

10 minutes ago, rabang said:

From your link:

 

I would highlight the word inclonclusive. If we are to mandate mass masking we would have to be absolutely sure that they work and there is clear evidence for their effectiveness, that they make a statistical difference, especially as they clearly have a large negative impact from different points of view.

“The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions,” the authors wrote. “The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect.”

 

In short. The Study is being updated and firm conclusions cannot be made at this time.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

There have been numerous other studies that have supported the protective effects of face mask wearing. The US CDC has done a recap of them at the following page:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html#anchor_1634654801820

 

 

Use of Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2

 

[a list of numerous studies too long for me to fully quote here under forum rules]

 

"At least ten studies have confirmed the benefit of universal masking in community level analyses: in a unified hospital system,⁴⁷ a German city,⁴⁸ two U.S. states,^{49, 50} a panel of 15 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.,^{51, 52} as well as both Canada⁵³ and the U.S.^54-56 nationally. Each analysis demonstrated that, following directives from organizational and political leadership for universal masking, new infections fell significantly. Two of these studies^{51, 52} and an additional analysis of data from 200 countries that included the U.S.⁵⁶ also demonstrated reductions in mortality."

Edited May 1, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

37 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

 

In short. The Study is being updated and firm conclusions cannot be made at this time.

The other important aspect of discounting the referenced recent Cochrane report (which the editor of the site has essentially retracted/recanted as pertains to COVID) is that much of the research summarized in their review didn't actually involve COVID but research involving other viruses prior.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[rabang]

4 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

“The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions,” the authors wrote. “The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited, and that the true effect may be different from the observed estimate of the effect.”

 

In short. The Study is being updated and firm conclusions cannot be made at this time.

Firm conclusions need to be made and clear evidence presented before mandates are given.

[FarAway]

On 4/27/2023 at 9:45 PM, Soikhaonoiken said:

Or is it due to the influx of un- vaccinated Chinese tourist..

China is one of the most vaccinated states in the world. Emperor Xi ensured all citizens were forced to get it.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 minutes ago, FarAway said:

China is one of the most vaccinated states in the world. Emperor Xi ensured all citizens were forced to get it.

And they were almost entirely, if not entirely, vaccinated with their own Chinese-made non-mRNA vaccines that have proven less effective than the mRNA counterparts like Pfizer and Moderna manufactured outside of China....

 

So in effect, even the vaccinated domestic Chinese are under-vaccinated.

 

[spidermike007]

On 4/25/2023 at 4:36 PM, Eleftheros said:

During that same period, 197 people were killed on the roads, according to Industry Ministry sources cited in a newspaper which may not be linked to.

 

The continued focus on Covid to the virtual exclusion of everything else is idiotic and damaging.

Thank you. And perhaps five from Covid, and who knows what all the details are? It is endemic now. People will continue dying of the flu, colds, falling down, and breaking a hip, and other things older and more vulnerable people die from. 

[Bkk Brian]

9 hours ago, rabang said:

Firm conclusions need to be made and clear evidence presented before mandates are given.

A novel virus causing a pandemic and countless deaths...........

 

Fortunately the experts acted when they did.

 

Huge new study finds masks most effective public health measure in fighting COVID-19

One experiment across 200 countries showed 45.7 percent fewer COVID-19 related deaths in countries where mask wearing was mandatory, according to the study.

https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/582132-huge-new-study-finds-masks-most-effective-public/

 

Mask Mandates Save Lives

We find a significant and substantial effect—mask mandates reduced new weekly COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions, and deaths by 55, 11 and 0.7 per 100,000 inhabitants on average. Crucially, we find that the effect of mask mandates depends on the attitudes toward mask wearing at the county level, with larger effects in counties more positively inclined towards mask wearing.

https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2021/08/05/Mask-Mandates-Save-Lives-460123

 

Mask-wearing linked to 53% cut in Covid incidence, global study finds

Mask-wearing is the single most effective public health measure at tackling Covid, according to the first global study of its kind, which found that the measure was linked to a 53% fall in the incidence of the disease.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/17/wearing-masks-single-most-effective-way-to-tackle-covid-study-finds