Hospitalizations Climb in Thailand's Spring 2024 COVID Surge

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Weekly new hospitalizations for COVID continued their strong spring 2024 surge in Thailand during the past week, with new COVID hospitalizations now having risen for the past seven consecutive weeks and having more than tripled over that period to the highest level in nearly a year.

 

According to the latest weekly report released today by the Thai Ministry of Public Health, new COVID hospitalizations spiked to 1,672 during the past week, a 66% increase over the 1,004 reported for the prior week.

 

There also were marked increases in weekly COVID deaths that tripled to 9 last week, as well as the totals of hospitalized COVID patients in serious condition and those needing intubation to breath.

 

The latest MoPH report covers the period April 21 to 27, the first full week following Thailand's mid-April Song Kran holidays that brought the entire country out for gatherings and celebrations and saw many people traveling back to their family homes in the provinces.

 

Thailand had a similar COVID hospitalizations surge last spring as well, when weekly COVID hospitalizations rose from a few hundred to a peak of more than 3,000 by early June 2023 before eventually subsiding. The latest COVID hospitalizations tally reported today by MoPH is Thailand's highest weekly total since mid-June 2023 when the weekly number hit 2,158.

 

Among the 9 newly reported COVID deaths during the past week, one involved an infant between 0 and 4 years of age. The MoPH only recently resumed publicly disclosing the broad age ranges for Thailand's reported COVID deaths, something they had ceased many months prior with the end of COVID's declared emergency status in Thailand. Among the other new COVID deaths, 6 involved people age 70 and above, along with one each in age 60-69 and 50-59 ranges.

 

With the latest weekly report, Thailand since the start of 2024 has now seen 11,265 COVID hospitalizations and 81 official COVID deaths, according to the MoPH. Even while COVID hospitalizations have been spiking, Thailand's officially reported weekly COVID deaths have mostly remained in the single digits thus far in 2024.

 

The weekly COVID hospitalization increases reported by the MoPH during the past seven weeks have been as follows, with the spring surge beginning well before this year's Song Kran holidays, but then climbing rapidly once they arrived:

March 16 -- 501

March 23 -- 630

March 30 -- 728

April 6 -- 774

April 13 -- 849

April 20 -- 1,004

April 27 -- 1,672

 

In the latest weekly report, the number of hospitalized COVID patients considered in serious condition with pneumonia type symptoms rose from 292 to 390 week over week (the dark purple section in the chart above). Likewise, the number of hospitalized COVID patients requiring intubation/ventilation to breath rose from 101 to 148 week over week (the light purple section in the chart above).

 

The MoPH's weekly COVID reports for Thailand are available at the following MoPH website:

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

 

They also have been posted each week in the following AseanNow forum thread:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1311049-weekly-thai-ministry-of-public-health-covid-reports/

 

Below is the MoPH's prior weekly COVID report for the period April 14-20:

 

 

Edited April 29 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Robert Paulson]

Covid is like the walkers in GOT. They’re always there. They’re always coming to get you. 

[stoner]

33 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

81 official COVID deaths

 

81 deaths in 4 months vs 3x this died during songkran just from accidents in a couple days. 

 

plus good news is.....

 

36 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Even while COVID hospitalizations have been spiking, Thailand's officially reported weekly COVID deaths have mostly remained in the single digits thus far in 2024.

 

 

[connda]

If you really want to be fearful of something, then look at the Thai roads.  Your chances of getting killed on Thai roads are exponentially higher than dying of a Sars-Cov-2 infection if you are a average person in relatively good health.  I really can't understand what drives others to continue to hype Sars-Cov-2 as The Plague four years after the fact and at a time when virtually the entire world (with exceptions like pockets of people suffering from Covid Mysophobia) has gotten on with life and now accept Sars-Cov-2 for what it is - a mild, seasonal, flu-like viral infection that some people will get and most people won't.   And yet, sadly for some, Sars-Cov-2 is the "monster-under-the-bed" that is going to get you if you ever let your guard down.  What a terrible burden to carry though life. 

Edited April 29 by stats
flame comment removed

[impulse]

24 minutes ago, connda said:

 

 

I appreciate the updates, if only to confirm that the numbers aren't skyrocketing. 

 

And I also appreciate his updates on what's available in Thailand in the way of prevention and treatment, even if it's not something I'd go for.  Better too much information than not enough.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

28 minutes ago, impulse said:

I appreciate the updates, if only to confirm that the numbers aren't skyrocketing. 

 

A 66% one-week increase in new COVID hospitalizations, and COVID hospitalizations rising consecutively for 7 straight weeks now and tripling over that period isn't "skyrocketing"???

[connda]

28 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

I appreciate the updates, if only to confirm that the numbers aren't skyrocketing. 

 

And I also appreciate his updates on what's available in Thailand in the way of prevention and treatment, even if it's not something I'd go for.  Better too much information than not enough.

 

 

Then why not a dashboard giving daily/weekly updates on Dengue, TB, Malaria, influenza, STDs, AIDS, Japanese Encephalitis.  Why just Covid/Sars-Cov-2?  Think about it.

I've had Dengue.  If I get it again it could kill me.  But I don't revolve my life around worrying about Dengue and a daily/weekly basis.  So why compulsively worry about just one disease?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I wish the Thai MoPH would be more forthcoming in publicly reporting the deaths and hospitalizations associated with the various other major diseases, since doing so would bring better context on how to evaluate their COVID reporting. But, unfortunately, they don't do that.

 

That said, I seriously doubt any of the other diseases you listed above produced 1600+ new hospitalizations in the past week like COVID did in Thailand.

 

Overall, it will be very interesting to see if this year's spring COVID surge ends up being less, equal to, or higher than the comparable one from last year. That will be a sign of what the COVID future here holds.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 29 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[impulse]

28 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

A 66% one-week increase in new COVID hospitalizations, and COVID hospitalizations rising consecutively for 7 straight weeks now and tripling over that period isn't "skyrocketing"???

 

In the scheme of things, no.  I don't think it's "skyrocketing".

 

 

 

In fairness, they probably haven't updated the graph for a month or more because most countries quit reporting...  But even tripling the February numbers would make it like a pimple on a fly's butt.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/thailand/

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Yes, the current situation doesn't compare to the past couple major peaks of the pandemic here in Thailand. But the current latest week new hospitalization numbers for COVID are still the highest in almost a year.

 

Also, the Worldometers chart you used above is somewhat misleading, because the peaks shown were back when what Thailand was reporting was actual COVID cases, just cases. Whereas since last year, the only "case" numbers they report are in fact the smaller numbers of hospitalizations. So the one Worldometers chart is really tracking two different stats over time, without acknowledging the change.

 

FWIW, we had a Thai doctor in the past week, as reported here on AN, estimate that based on current COVID hospitalization numbers, Thailand was probably experiencing almost 10,000 actual COVID cases/infections (not hospitalizations) per day.

 

 

"Last year’s Covid outbreak that led to a jump in infection, illness and death continued till early June and it is worrisome how the situation will pan out this year, he said, while urging the public to protect themselves in daily life.

 

https://thainewsroom.com/2024/04/22/concern-over-spread-of-covid-19-nearly-10000-cases-a-day/

 

Here's the closest last year to this year weekly comparison to be had for the present

 

Week ending April 29, 2023:

1,811 new COVID hospitalizations and 10 COVID deaths. 157 current serious condition COVID hospitalizations.

 

Week ending April 27, 2024:

1,672 new COVID hospitalizations and 9 COVID deaths. 390 current serious condition COVID hospitalizations.

 

The serious condition COVID hospitalizations and the hospitalized COVID intubation numbers (shown in purple below) from that week in 2023 are much smaller than the current numbers now.

 

Week ending April 29, 2023:

 

 

Last year, the above COVID hospitalization numbers kept climbing into June and peaked at over 3,000 in a week, before they started falling off. So if that pattern holds, this year's numbers are likely to continue increasing in the coming weeks.

 

 

[Robert Paulson]

6 hours ago, stoner said:

 

81 deaths in 4 months vs 3x this died during songkran just from accidents in a couple days. 

 

plus good news is.....

 

 

 

What were the ages of these deaths, I’m dying to know

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Thailand's spring 2024 COVID surge continued for an eighth consecutive week last week, with the government reporting 1,792 new COVID hospitalizations, up 7% from the prior week, and 12 new official COVID deaths.

 

The Ministry of Public Health also reported the total number of current COVID hospitalizations rated in serious condition climbed to 501, a 28% increase over the prior week and a tally that appears to be Thailand's highest in almost a year and a half.

 

The number of currently hospitalized COVID patients requiring intubation / ventilation to breathe also rose to 187, up 26% from the prior week, and the highest number in that category since mid-June 2023.

 

The Thai government does not publicly report the total numbers of all current COVID hospitalizations, but instead only breaks out the subtotals for those in serious condition and requiring intubation, and then the new COVID hospitalizations each week.

 

With the latest update for the period April 28 to May 4, Thailand's weekly new COVID hospitalizations at 1,792, averaging 256 per day, have more than tripled from the 501 weekly count recorded in mid-March when the latest COVID surge began.

 

The latest weekly count on new COVID hospitalizations is Thailand's highest number since mid-June 2023, when the total hit 2,158. The latest tally of 12 new COVID deaths, up from 9 the prior week, is the highest since 14 were recorded for a week in mid-July 2023.

 

Thailand had a similar COVID surge last spring as well, when weekly COVID new hospitalizations rose from a few hundred to a peak of more than 3,000 by early June 2023 before eventually subsiding.

 

Among the 12 new COVID deaths reported for the past week, 6 were male and 6 were female. The MoPH said 11 were ages 70 and above, while one was in the 20-49 age range. The MoPH only recently resumed publicly disclosing the broad age ranges for Thailand's reported COVID deaths, something they had ceased many months prior with the end of COVID's declared emergency status in Thailand.

 

With the latest weekly report, Thailand since the start of 2024 has now seen 13,057 COVID hospitalizations and 93 official COVID deaths, according to the MoPH. Even while COVID hospitalizations have been spiking, Thailand's officially reported weekly COVID deaths had mostly remained in the single digits during 2024.

 

The weekly COVID new hospitalization counts reported by the MoPH during the past eight weeks have been as follows, with the spring surge beginning well before this year's mid-April Song Kran holidays, but then climbing rapidly after they arrived:

 

March 16 -- 501

March 23 -- 630

March 30 -- 728

April 6 -- 774

April 13 -- 849

April 20 -- 1,004

April 27 -- 1,672

May 4 -- 1,792

 

The MoPH's weekly COVID reports for Thailand are available at the following MoPH website:

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

 

They also have been posted each week in the following AseanNow forum thread:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1311049-weekly-thai-ministry-of-public-health-covid-reports/

 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

With the latest weekly report, Thailand since the start of 2024 has now seen 13,057 COVID hospitalizations and 93 official COVID deaths, according to the MoPH. Even while COVID hospitalizations have been spiking, Thailand's officially reported weekly COVID deaths had mostly remained in the single digits during 2024.

Old & unhealthy people die every day from respiratory disease, usually as one of  the last illness to kill them, especially males in TH.   Nothing new, get over it, and accept it.  Single digits in a week, that's not even news worthy.

 

They're old, past their expiration date ... that's nature.  Covid, flu, pneumonia ... old age,   Death & taxes get us all in the end.

 

TH 'all' deaths from/with covid ... 494 per million people.   Not even 0.05%   Get a Life, move on.

Edited May 5 by KhunLA

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

Thailand's spring 2024 COVID surge continued for a ninth consecutive week last week, with the government reporting 1,880 new COVID hospitalizations, up 4.9% from 1,792 the prior week, and 11 new official COVID deaths, a decline of one.

 

The Ministry of Public Health also reported the total number of current COVID hospitalizations rated in serious condition climbed to 588 from 501 the prior week, a 17.4% increase and a tally that appears to be Thailand's highest in almost a year and a half.

 

The number of currently hospitalized COVID patients requiring intubation / ventilation to breathe also rose to 237 from 187 the prior week, up 27% and the highest number in that category since early June 2023.

 

The Thai government does not publicly report the total numbers of all current COVID hospitalizations, but instead only breaks out the subtotals for those in serious condition and requiring intubation, and then the new COVID hospitalizations each week.

 

With the latest update for the period May 5 - 11, Thailand's weekly new COVID hospitalizations at 1,880, averaging 269 per day, have more than tripled from the 501 weekly count recorded in mid-March when the latest COVID surge began.

 

The latest weekly count on new COVID hospitalizations is Thailand's highest number since mid-June 2023, when the total hit 2,158. The latest tally of 11 new COVID deaths is a decline of one from the prior week, but still one of the highest weekly totals thus far for 2024.

 

Thailand had a similar COVID surge last spring as well, when weekly COVID new hospitalizations rose from a few hundred to a peak of more than 3,000 by early June 2023 before eventually subsiding.

 

Among the 11 new COVID deaths reported for the past week, 4 were male and 7 were female. The MoPH said 10 were ages 70 and above, while one was in the 60-69 age range. The MoPH only recently resumed publicly disclosing the broad age ranges for Thailand's reported COVID deaths, something they had ceased many months prior with the end of COVID's declared emergency status in Thailand.

 

With the latest weekly report, Thailand since the start of 2024 has now seen 14,937 COVID hospitalizations and 104 official COVID deaths, according to the MoPH. Even while COVID hospitalizations have been spiking, Thailand's officially reported weekly COVID deaths had mostly remained in the single digits during 2024.

 

The weekly COVID new hospitalization counts reported by the MoPH during the past nine weeks have been as follows, with the spring surge beginning well before this year's mid-April Song Kran holidays, but then climbing rapidly after they arrived:

 

March 16 -- 501

March 23 -- 630

March 30 -- 728

April 6 -- 774

April 13 -- 849

April 20 -- 1,004

April 27 -- 1,672

May 4 -- 1,792

May 11 -- 1,880

 

The MoPH's weekly COVID reports for Thailand are available at the following MoPH website:

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

 

They also have been posted each week in the following AseanNow forum thread:

https://aseannow.com/topic/1311049-weekly-thai-ministry-of-public-health-covid-reports/

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Thai Medics Warn of Covid Surge with 11 New Deaths

 

 

 

[Robert Paulson]

On 5/6/2024 at 2:54 AM, KhunLA said:

   Get a Life, move on.

Yes.