Coronavirus (Covid-19)
6 guidelines issued for schools to re-open in July

The government is considering allowing schools in Covid-19 infection-free areas to open in July, and the Public Health Ministry has issued 6 guidelines to schools nationwide on how to guard against the spread of virus among students and faculty once they reopen. The Department of Health’s director-general made the announcement yesterday.
“The first point that must be emphasised is preventing the spread of Covid-19 and other germs by setting up screening checkpoints at all entrances to check for fever and other symptoms. Furthermore, schools must stick to strict rules on wearing face masks and washing hands frequently, as well as providing adequate alcohol gel or handwashing stations.”
She says that classes should have no more than 20-25 students in order to maintain a distance of at least 1 metre between students.
“This will pose a challenge for schools as normally each classroom has around 40 students. Schools may employ an alternate study schedule where half of the students study online at home while the other half attend the school, and then switch at a suitable interval.”
“The second point is to prepare lessons and learning materials that are suitable for both classroom and online learning, to ensure that no student’s education is hindered during the Covid-19 crisis. The third point is to give underprivileged and disabled children the same learning opportunities as other students by providing suitable protection equipment or specialised tools to facilitate their education both at home and in school.”
The fourth point is to protect the health and welfare of children from families who have fallen ill with or are under investigation for the virus. Measures must be taken to ensure that affected students are not excluded from their peer groups.
The fifth point is to provide infrastructure to prevent the spread of the virus in schools, including additional handwashing sinks, partitions in cafeterias, and rearrangement of classrooms, hallways and communal areas to maintain social distancing.
“The sixth point that school should focus on is administration of their budgets, as these measures will increase the financial burden on the school and possibly on parents. Schools must make sure they are financially sound before reopening so they can ensure uninterrupted operation until the end of the semester.”
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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Thailand
PM Prayut postponing Covid‐19 vaccination citing paperwork issues

Thailand’s PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is postponing his inaugural Covid‐19 vaccination citing paperwork issues with the AstraZeneca vaccine shipment. According to Khaosod English, the vaccine shipment was sent to Thailand last Wednesday from South Korea, but was missing the additional required paperwork.
Prayut was supposed to receive the vaccine tomorrow, but the highly‐publicised event will not be happening. According to Khaosod English, an official at the Secretariat of the Prime Minister has also confirmed the news of the postponement without citing a reason.
Although the Sinovac vaccine is also being administered in Thailand, healthcare officials say Prayut is too old to receive it as its age limit is 60. Prayut is 66 years old, which is well over the oldest age that can receive the vaccine.
The Sinovac vaccine drive is set to commence on Monday, 2 weeks behind schedule. Those frontline health workers, hospitality workers and vulnerable groups will receive the vaccines first.
Meanwhile, Phuket is waiting for the green lightto start administering vaccines and has already held a vaccine administration rehearsal overseen by Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong along with other health officials.
Pichet says the first vaccine round of 4,000 doses should arrive early in March, with the 2nd and 3rd set of doses, 16,000 and 48,000 respectively, to arrive in April and May.
The government pandemic center reported 72 new confirmed infections on Friday, after first only reporting 45 new cases. 37 of those cases were locally-transmitted, and one 6 year old Thai girl returning from the UK was found to have tested positive for the virus. Samut Sakhon, again, reported over half of the new cases yesterday, as it remains the epicentre of Thailand’s second wave of the coronavirus outbreak.
The total virus tally in Thailand sits at 25,764, with 83 fatalities. The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration has not yet announced the amount of new cases for today.
There is no word yet on when PM Prayut will be rescheduled to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
SOURCE: Khaosod English
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Phuket holds vaccine administration rehearsal as it waits for green light

Phuket is rehearsing procedures to ready themselves for the Covid‐19 vaccine administration green light. A rehearsal at Vachira Hospital’s Lan Muang Khao open area was held late yesterday to iron out any kinks in the administration process. Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong watched over the procedures along with other health officials.
Pichet says the first vaccine round of 4,000 doses should arrive early in March, with the 2nd and 3rd set of doses, 16,000 and 48,000 respectively, to arrive in April and May.
“The government recognises the importance of the affected areas of the economy where the epidemic situation of COVID-19 must be stopped and has allocated the COVID-19 vaccine to Phuket Province to build herd immunity, restore the economy, return a smile to Thailand.”
“We are preparing to COVID-19 mass vaccination to build confidence among the people that they will receive a quality, safe vaccine and to receive follow-up care after it has been administered.”
Pichet says Phuket’s first target groups to receive the vaccine include medical and public health personnel, with others on the frontlines to come next.
Then, workers aged 18-59 years old, people with underlying diseases including chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity will follow.
“People with severe neurological conditions and pregnant women should be wary of taking the vaccine, as well as women who are breastfeeding and people with immunodeficiency.”
The procedure to get vaccinated starts by recipients undergoing screening by having their temperatures taken, and then sanitising their hands before entering the administration area. Then, they will move their way through a series of steps, detailed below:
Step 1: Register
Step 2: Record weight and blood pressure
Step 3: Pass the screening process by have their medical history and risk assessment recorded and then signing a consent to receive the vaccine
Step 4: Wait for vaccination
Step 5: Vaccination
Step 6: Rest for 30 minutes, while being observed for symptoms. Then scan the official Line account “หมอพร้อม” (“Doctor Ready”)
Step 7: Pass a final check before receiving a document confirming vaccination
Pichet says health workers will follow up with vaccine recipients after 1,7, and 30 days from being vaccinated to monitor any adverse reactions.
Those who are set to receive their second jab will have appointments made for them. Those who receive the Sinovac vaccine will be scheduled to have their second doses 2 to 4 weeks after the first. AstraZeneca vaccine receivers will be scheduled for their second doses 10 to 12 weeks after the first.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
PM to receive AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday

The Thai PM, Prayut Chan-o-cha will receive the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Sunday, while Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will receive the Chinese jab. According to a Bangkok Post report, Sopon Mekthon from the sub-committee on vaccine management says both politicians will receive their vaccines at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute. On Monday, the vaccination of priority groups in specific provinces will get underway.
Speaking about the arrival of the long-awaited vaccines yesterday, Anutin said the first batch would be distributed free of charge, with costs covered by the government.
“The vaccines are for Thais and those living in the country. Anyone who charges for the vaccine will face legal action.”
Thailand has taken delivery of 200,000 doses of the Chinese Sinovac jab and 117,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The arrival of the AstraZeneca jab took many by surprise, with no mention of its imminent arrival, unlike the PR hoopla surrounding the arrival of its Chinese counterpart. Another 800,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine are expected next month, followed by a further 1 million in April. After that, the rest of Thailand’s vaccines will be from AstraZeneca, with 26 million locally-manufactured doses expected to be available from May to June and another 35 million after that.
Nakorn Premsri from the National Vaccine Institute says the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived this week as a result of a commitment by the pharmaceutical giant to ensure equal access to Covid-19 vaccines.
“The AstraZeneca vaccines that arrived in Thailand must receive a lot release certificate from the Department of Medical Sciences before distribution to priority groups designated by the Department of Disease Control.”
Meanwhile, Thares Karasnairaviwong from the Department of Health Service Support says over 1.5 million village health volunteers are educating local residents about the importance of vaccination and establishing how many people fall into the priority groups who will be first to be inoculated.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Colin
Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 8:19 am
This interesting article has very little real sense, its words are easy to say and sound like they are knowledgeable and sincere, but they offer no real information or help whilst shifting the onus onto schools, teachers and public. OK, yes, we all have an added responsibility that we should continue to observe during these times, but whilst governments around the world prematurely lift restrictions for the sake of what they call economic stimulation, and allow travel between infected districts and countries, we shall all continue to suffer socially and financially in vain as our politicians and their business friends knowing lead us to a second corvid wave. Retrospective speaking is also easy but consider this, if the whole world had implemented a complete and strict lock down soon after New Zealand initiated theirs, we may well have found ourselves living in a pandemic free world now and it would have been cheaper.