The Covid-19 situation at Prachuap Khiri Khan prison in Thailand is set to be managed by an imminent emergency operations centre (EOC), following the identification of infection clusters. This development comes as the public health permanent secretary, Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, reported intensified surveillance in the wake of 79 confirmed Covid cases at the prison.

 

The first infection was detected on March 27 after a 35 year old female inmate exhibiting influenza-like symptoms tested positive for Covid upon her admission to Prachuap Khiri Khan Hospital. A male inmate also returned a positive result during a screening process for a prison transfer.

 

This led to compulsory Covid screening for all inmates and prison officials from March 28 to March 29. Of the 1,906 inmates tested, 70 were confirmed positive, while nine out of 85 prison officials were also infected. All affected individuals were isolated for five days as samples were collected for further analysis.

In the country, the Department of Disease Control’s weekly report, from March 17 to March 23, revealed 630 new Covid cases and five deaths. Of these new cases, 222 presented with severe pneumonia and 74 required endotracheal intubation. The total cases and deaths for this year now stand at 6,238 and 60 respectively.

Dr Yong Poovorawan, a director at the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, predicted on Facebook that Covid infections would decline during the summer before seeing a rise again in June.

 

According to him, the JN.1 sub-variant of the Omicron Covid variant is currently the dominant strain and does not seem to cause more severe symptoms, reported Bangkok Post.

 

In his advice to the public, Dr Yong stated that individuals should seek Covid tests when they begin to show respiratory symptoms. Isolation is advised for those with a heavy cough or fever. Once they recover, they can return to their normal routines but they should continue to wear face masks for at least five days and practice good hygiene.

 

by Mitch Connor

File photo Dr. Opas

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-04-01

 

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COVID-19 outbreak at Prachuap prison results in 79 confirmed infections
By Online Reporter

 

Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong. File photo

The Department of Health has announced the discovery of a COVID-19 outbreak among inmates at Prachuap prison.

 

The Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health revealed a COVID-19 outbreak in a prison in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province after screening tests found a total of 79 infected individuals, including 70 inmates and 9 officers.

 

Most of the infected are showing only mild symptoms and are categorised in the ‘green group’.

 

The prison’s disease control measures involve isolating the patients for 5 days, and those at risk of severe symptoms are immediately sent to the hospital.

 

Full story: HUA HIN TODAY 2024-04-01

 

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Did this come from non-mask wearing foreigners ?

4 hours ago, webfact said:

This led to compulsory Covid screening for all inmates and prison officials from March 28 to March 29. Of the 1,906 inmates tested, 70 were confirmed positive, while nine out of 85 prison officials were also infected. All affected individuals were isolated for five days as samples were collected for further analysis.

Must have had a farang visitor...

One mention of Dr Google Yong and it will now be all gone. Just remember his great cut and paste work during Covid  🤔

April 1st joke

I hope they are getting the same private hospital care and attention that other high profile ex cons got

Cant believe thai jails would be high on the 

sanitary scale, good idea to mask up all foreigners before they are being sent to jail!

😂

I ... did a quick Google. 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/background/index.html

 

 

This article from early March is an interesting read...below some excerpts which don't 100% state "it's flu" but the message is clear. Data in the link indicates that flu deaths are now similar COVID deaths for 23-24, and as the CDC openly state, it is probable that flu deaths are/have been understated for several years now. This is not to downplay the massive impact of COVID during 20-21-22 but merely their opinion on the matter. Below the hospitalisations graph for the period, which show COVID falling to comparable flu-type levels, although the seasonal variations seems different. 

"The 2023-2024 fall and winter virus season, four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided ongoing evidence of the changing face of respiratory diseases. COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV."

 

"As the threat from COVID-19 becomes more similar to that of other common respiratory viruses, CDC is issuing Respiratory Virus Guidance, rather than additional virus-specific guidance. This brings a unified, practical approach to addressing risk from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as influenza and RSV, that have similar routes of transmission and symptoms and similar prevention strategies."

 

 

Edited April 1, 20242 yr by stats
comment re previously removed content removed

13 hours ago, realfunster said:

I ... did a quick Google. 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/background/index.html

 

 

This article from early March is an interesting read...below some excerpts which don't 100% state "it's flu" but the message is clear. Data in the link indicates that flu deaths are now similar COVID deaths for 23-24, and as the CDC openly state, it is probable that flu deaths are/have been understated for several years now. This is not to downplay the massive impact of COVID during 20-21-22 but merely their opinion on the matter. Below the hospitalisations graph for the period, which show COVID falling to comparable flu-type levels, although the seasonal variations seems different. 

"The 2023-2024 fall and winter virus season, four years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, provided ongoing evidence of the changing face of respiratory diseases. COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, but it is no longer the emergency that it once was, and its health impacts increasingly resemble those of other respiratory viral illnesses, including influenza and RSV."

 

"As the threat from COVID-19 becomes more similar to that of other common respiratory viruses, CDC is issuing Respiratory Virus Guidance, rather than additional virus-specific guidance. This brings a unified, practical approach to addressing risk from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as influenza and RSV, that have similar routes of transmission and symptoms and similar prevention strategies."

 

 

Yes, the impacts of the Covid virus are similar to the flu, but Covid is not the flu.

 

 

Two medically distinct viruses. Common cold is distinct from flu, flu is distinct from covid and all three are disticnt from each other.

Sonkrang Covid Festival is coming 🤔

Blame the foreigners. Locals got strong immune resistant already . So it had to be the foreigners, right ? Oh that mask thing applies in popular tourist destinations like Phuket Pattaya …cities . By the way what about the worst air population in chiang Mai ? Oh well blame it on foreigners as well . 

In 2023 there was a spike in covid cases after the Songkran celebrations.

So shouldn't those celebrations be cancelled this year to exercise extreme pubic safety?

Looks like lockdown failed again......

It is a terrible "pandemic" so many dead bodies in the streets of my town. Strange o this "virus" may not like me. I have never wore a mask, and did not have any injections of those "vaccines". I guess I am long dead.

9 hours ago, Srikcir said:

In 2023 there was a spike in covid cases after the Songkran celebrations.

So shouldn't those celebrations be cancelled this year to exercise extreme pubic safety?

In 1919, the Spanish Flu killed millions. In 1921, not so many.

 

You see, an epidemic only lasts for a while. The fact that an epidemic ends doesn't mean that it wasn't dangerous at its peak.

Thailand's new hospitalizations for COVID, for the past week, climbed again to surpass on average more than 100 per day, or 728 for the past week.

 

------------------------------------

 

Thailand MoPH Weekly COVID report for Mar. 24 - Mar. 30, 2024:

 

--728 new COVID hospitalizations, up 98 from the prior week

--2 new COVID deaths, down 3 from the prior week

--215 current COVID patients hospitalized in serious condition (pneumonia symptoms), down 7 from the prior week (dark purple)

--76 current COVID patients hospitalized requiring intubation/ventilation to breathe, up 2 from the prior week (light purple)

 

(cumulative figures are COVID new hospitalizations (6,966) & deaths (62) since the start of the current year)

 

Note: with this latest weekly COVID report, MoPH has now resumed giving basic age and gender information on their reported COVID fatalities. In this new report, both of the two new COVID fatalities -- one man and one woman -- are reported as being age 70 and above.

 

 

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