Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Egyptian air crew were permitted to visit venues in Rayong

The Egyptian soldier, who has been found to have tested positive for Covid-19, was part of an air crew who had special dispensation from the Emergency Decree provisions regarding the coronavirus. The crew, spending one night in Rayong on their way back to Egypt from China, were permitted to leave their quarantine facility and wander around venues in Rayong.
The alerts were raised after the man’s tests were found to be positive yesterday. The Egyptian arrived in Thailand, with 30 other Egyptian Air Force crew, according to Dr. Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesperson for the government’s CCSA. The story has been met with an outcry from Thais on social media with netizens calling the situation a “shambles” and questioning the government’s procedures for people in quarantine.
Dr. Taweesin says the men were “foreign airmen who entered into our country under a special exemption”.
“They landed at U-Tapao Airport and we found that some of the measures there needed to be re-evaluated.”
The group is reported to have spent 3 nights in Thailand from July 8 – 11 to collect supplies before continuing on their flight back to Egypt last Saturday. The plane also made brief stops in the UAE and Pakistan before reaching Egypt.
Taweesin has declined to identify the venues visited by the infected man and other members of the crew. He reported that health officials are now tracking down other people who may have had contact with the crew members at “certain public venues” in Rayong province.
SOURCE: Khaosod English
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Thailand
Is spraying disinfectant on the Thai-Burmese border effective?

Some controversy exists over the Royal Thai Army attempting to sterilize areas of the Thailand-Myanmar border by spraying disinfectant along the border region. The army sprayed areas set up as a temporary holding facility for many Burmese refugees. The move drew condemnation from critics who claimed the disinfectant was not effective and not worth the expense of implementation. A spokesperson for the Royal Thai Army responded to social media ire justifying the action.
The spraying was done after the Burmese refugees had returned across the border to Myanmar, after fleeing temporarily to escape the escalating humanitarian crisis following the February 1 military coup. After the refugees left, disinfectant was sprayed around the area in compliance with Public Health directives designed to slow the Covid-19 spread and maintain safety. The disinfectant was intended to kill any possibly contagious remaining virus or disease in the area.
The spokesperson said the military used existing government equipment they requested from the Ministry of Public Health to efficiently disinfect the area. She asserted that the spraying was not just to help local people, but also to reassure them that it was safe to return to their daily lives in the area, to go to work or do farming, without fear of becoming infected with Covid-19.
While the response online to the spraying disinfectant scheme is still generally negative, it’s worth noting that the same spraying has been used to effectively sterilize 162 schools and 268 other areas since January. The spray is a safety precaution to minimize the spread of Covid-19 and has been used throughout communities in places like bus terminals, marketplaces, temples and other places where people tend to gather.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Bang Lamung Hospital is full, province using field hospitals and ASQ hotels

A spokesperson from the Bang Lamung Hospital in Pattaya says that all the beds put aside for Covid patients are now full and doctors are now having to refer newly infected people to Sattahip where the Navy have set up a field hospital. They’re also referring some patients to ASQ hotels.
The hospital said they had put aside 30 ward beds and 12 private rooms for Covid-infected patients but the beds had already been taken up following up to 500 people seeking tests at the hospital each day.
Chin Buri has reported another 97 infections today, about the same as the rest of this week. That makes the total in the province to 807 since the start of the month.
Confirmed by the government earlier this week, Thailand hospitalises everyone who tests positive. Or, alternatively they are sent to a field hospital or the government’s quarantine facilities where Thais were given free quarantine when they repatriated back to Thailand over the past year.
But the current upsurge of new infections being discovered in Chon Buri, and the rest of the country, is putting a strain on facilities. Some people who have tested positive are even being sent to ASQ hotels where the hospitals had used up their quota of available beds.
Public health officials in Chon Buri are currently urging people who are not considered ‘at risk’ to avoid hospitals at this time to allow faster processing of people who are considered at risk.
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Covid UPDATE: New cases rise to 1,543, DDC recommends work from home in red zone areas

Thailand’s Covid-19 infections are still on the rise, with the Kingdom reporting 1,543 new infections in the last 24 hours. Only 3 of those are imported with 1,540 being cases of community transmission. Thailand has now recorded 37,453 infections. 8,973 patients are receiving hospital treatment, 41 of whom have pneumonia.
1,540 were community cases, most from the hot zone of Bangkok with 409 new infections. Chiang Mai had 278 new cases, Prachuap Khiri Khan 98 and Chon Buri (including Pattaya) 98.
UPDATE: Dr Chawetsan Namwat, the acting director for emergency health at the Department of Disease Control, says that people will need to consider working from home for 2 weeks if they live in a red zone area.
He said that it may be necessary to increase restrictions further to mitigate the upward trajectory of Covid-19 that is expected to rise after Songkran. Those red zone areas include Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Samut Prakan, Narathiwat, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani and Sa Kaeo.
“To reduce risks, people should work from home after the Songkran festival.”
Here’s the trajectory of the outbreak since April 1…
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Brian
Monday, July 13, 2020 at 5:08 pm
WTF!!! Everybody else who comes to Thailand must be quarantined for 14 days….but not the military from another country!!! No…they are allowed to go wandering around as they wish. They must be pretty special!!!
dinesh
Monday, July 13, 2020 at 5:44 pm
the people who allowed them to galavant around need to be put in jail and held accountable as they are a threat to other citizens. This needs to be done so they learn that they cant bend the rules whenever they feel like it.
Max B
Monday, July 13, 2020 at 7:04 pm
Muslims flying on their way back from China. That’s two negatives right there and before you think I’m just being racist, all the Thais that return from overseas and test positive have been coming from muslim countries. That’s the fact I am pointing out.
John Smythe
Monday, July 13, 2020 at 10:36 pm
Looks to me like the CCSA had been reevaluate their lacking procedures and discipline those who caused this health conundrum. No one is exempt from quarantine procedures.