Coronavirus (Covid-19)
New Covid-19 cases in 17 provinces, CCSA spokesperson says to view migrants as “family”
With Covid-19 cases spreading in Thailand and many concerned with the migrant population after the outbreak at a Samut Sakhon seafood market, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration spokesperson Taweesin Visanuyothin says to view the migrant workers as family.
“When family members are sick, we have to take care of them.”
46 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed today in the CCSA’s daily report. 39 were local transmissions in 17 provinces while the other 7 were detected in quarantine for people travelling from overseas. Many of the local cases are Thai fishermen and other workers in the seafood industry. There are now 1,607 people in Thailand currently receiving medical treatment for the coronavirus.
Out of the 39 local cases in today’s official count from the CCSA, 11 cases were detected in Bangkok, 5 in Chachoengsao, 3 in Nakhon Pathom, 2 in Kamphaeng Phet, 2 in Tak, 2 in Prachin Buri, 2 in Ayutthaya, 2 in Samut Prakan and 2 in Saraburi. Cases were also detected in each of the following: Phetchabun, Krabi, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phuket and Suphan Buri.
Fingers are pointing at Burmese migrants after hundreds of mostly migrant workers near a seafood market in Samut Sakhon tested positive for the virus over the weekend. Taweesin says he wants the Thai community to view and treat the migrants like family.
“I want everyone to view them (migrant workers) as family. They have been helping us in driving our economy for a very long time. When family members are sick, we have to take care of them. Don’t hesitate to help by donating or providing necessities since they are living in hard times.”
Daily new Covid-19 cases in Thailand as of December 22, according to Worldometers.
Active Covid-19 cases in Thailand as of December 22, according to Worldometers.
SOURCES: Nation Thailand | Bangkok Post
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
50,000 to be tested for Covid-19 in Samut Sakhon, 198 new infections reported in Thailand today
50,000 people are lining up to be tested for Covid-19 in the hotspot of Samut Sakhon over the next 5 days as health officials step up pro-active testing in the hard-hit Thai province. The target of 10,000 people to be tested per day will focus on factory workers, communities and dormitories in an effort to change Krathum Ban and Muang districts from red to yellow and then green zones.
Apisamai Srirangsun, the CCSA deputy spokesperson, says they expect to find 2,000-3,000 new cases as a result of the increased tracking, tracing and testing. She says health officials are trying to track down and free Samut Sakhon of new infections.
“Officials are optimistic that that the pandemic will ease during the 2nd week of February.”
Samut Sakhon is the centre of the 2nd core wave of Covid in Thailand as a cluster of infections broke out late last year in the provincial seafood markets along the coast, just south west of Bangkok. She also said that educational institutes, in some areas of Samut Sakhon, may be allowed to reopen during the next month, if the situation improves.
“But many businesses may have to wait to reopen.”
So far, 70,000 people in the province have been tested for the virus with 5,332 found to be infected. Most of those infected are migrant workers from Myanmar, with the infection rate around 7%.
According to the CCSA, 198 new Covid-19 cases were recorded today, including 191 locally-transmitted infections and 7 imported. 1 more fatality was reported, bringing the national total death toll to 73.
The latest victim was a 73 year old woman from Samut Sakhon, who also suffered from dementia, high blood pressure and epilepsy. She was found to have been infected by family members on January 9 and was admitted to the hospital suffering from fatigue and a severe lung inflammation. The woman was placed on a respirator and was transferred to Thaksin Hospital, but she passed away yesterday after her condition worsened.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
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Czech dog trainers say canines can sniff out Covid-19 with an astonishing 95% success rate. The team of trainers in Renda, a Czech mountain village, are working in their own time to teach the dogs to tell the difference between fake samples of Covid and real ones by sniffing pieces of cloth. Lenka Vlachova, a trainer who works at Prague’s fire brigade, says the cloths either feature a scent from patients with Covid-19 or from those that tested negative for the virus. They also say they there are cloths with fake samples of the virus that are part of the testing group.
The project head, Gustav Hotovy, says the study is designed to verify dogs’ ability to detect the virus and generate a method enabling the use of training dogs in combatting the pandemic.
“The method should also work with other diseases, even more lethal than Covid-19. In the end, we should be able to detect a huge number of people in a very short time with a trained dog.”
Hotovy, who is a retired cynologist, whose team started training the dogs last August, says the first study confirming that dogs are able to detect tissue attacked by a virus was conducted in the United States about 10 years ago.
“The virus changes the human tissue, affecting the scent signature of the person.”
He says that the signature changes so much that it is immediately picked up on by the dogs. The samples are gathered by rubbing a piece of cotton against the patient’s skin and then the team has to make sure the sample is virus-free to keep the dogs from catching the virus.
A Finnish team has also been using dogs to detect the virus at Helsinki airport, reporting its dogs can detect the virus with close to 100% accuracy.
SOURCE: Reuters
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Hong Kong’s government is forcing a partial lockdown until 10,000 residents of an area in the Kowloon peninsula, complete a Covid-19 test. The 2 day lockdown in the city’s poorest neighbourhood of Jordan, comes after a new strain of the coronavirus was identified, making it the 1st lockdown that the city has seen.
The area, which features many deteriorating buildings and 150 stacked housing blocks, has confirmed 162 confirmed cases of Covid-19 this month, with the ratio of virus detected in sewage samples from buildings there was higher than that of other areas.
Over the last 2 months the city has been hit by a 4th wave of infections with authorities struggling to bring the daily numbers down. Such clusters have hit the low-income neighbourhoods the most, which are notorious for cramped conditions in districts such as Yau Tsim Mong.
In recent days, health officials began mandatory testing in some 70 buildings in the area but the government has now decided to test everyone much to the confusion of local residents. As rumours of a lockdown were leaked to the local media, the government didn’t officially announce the measure until this morning. The area is also home to many ethnic minorities, mainly South Asian Hong Kongers, a community that often faces discrimination and poverty.
Earlier in the week a senior health official was criticised when he suggested ethnic minority residents might be spreading the virus more readily because “they like to share food, smoke, drink alcohol and chat together.”
The health official’s comments also came as a video was released of predominantly white migrants dancing at a packed brunch on the more affluent Hong Kong Island. But those who agreed with the health official pointed to cramped conditions, not race or culture, as being the cause of the virus spreading more easily.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
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Alte Ledertasche
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 3:46 pm
Respect. But this statement should come from Pinoccio or at least from Bob the Builder
Stefan Svensson
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 4:07 pm
There are many who have helped the Thai economy for decades … or am I wrong when I mean the farangs? Have never felt that they are treated as a family, perhaps due to racism against the white population, what do I know. Merry Christmas and such a happy new year it is only possible to wish you all wherever you are
Ynwaps
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 5:28 pm
Have you tried cognitive behavioral therapy yet? Might help :/
Mick
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 5:43 pm
Don’t know where you live in Thailand, however in the area l live l do not see racism, l see genuine nice people who had always treated me with respect.
Issan John
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 9:26 pm
Sorry to say it Mick, but in my experience sadly racism is no less rife here than it is in the West, particularly where those from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are concerned.
Wijnschenk
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 5:34 pm
Again.
When Thailand was hit by a tsunami the world (farangs) helped Thailand.
When 12 children needed help in a cave
The world (farangs) helped Thailand.
NOW Thailand can do something back……
Help stramded people get back to their loved ones.
All theydo is steal more money….
Thank you Thailand!!
Jake barlow
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 6:21 pm
Sawadee kap!
Issan John
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 6:24 pm
“Again”. For crissake …..
You’re not “stranded”, you’re just not able to come here.
Why should Thailand put people’s lives at risk here just so you can see your girlfriend?
If you’re that desperate you could pay for her to come to see you, but I doubt she wants to.
Bob Hasbig Balls
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 6:45 pm
Chin meet nutsack!
Isan Sucker
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 7:33 pm
All the trouble from dirty farangs is obvious
John Brown
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 8:20 pm
What strain was the cluster found around the BNH nurse who was infected working in an ASQ?
Honestly, over-focusing on the Myanmar G clade, and the migrant workers, right now is a very very bad idea.
Blokes: please warn everyone you know to stay home for the next 2 weeks till it gets bad enough that there’s no choice but transparency. You’re not out of the fire just because you’re here. That is all I am able to say directly.
Please everyone take care of yourselves.
The Thaiger
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 9:13 pm
Is there a translation available for your comment?
John Brown
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 3:11 am
That is not a good idea and I strongly advise you do not produce one. If you would like to pursue the matter further, make your inquiries discreetly to the relevant authorities or their knowledgeable contacts, off-the-record, and then use your best judgment with the information.
Issan John
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 9:19 pm
JB, I don’t know but I doubt the strains are being sequenced for every case – I was surprised to see recently that Wales has sequenced more cases in the last week than France has since the pandemic began!
I don’t understand why you think the Bkk / ASQ cluster is so important when there’s no indication of any ongoing transmission, and there were plenty of tests done, but not the Samut Sakhon outbreak with hundreds of positive tests (IIRC 44% of those tested who worked in / around the market) and spreaders are known in other provinces.
I’m not sure that ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ really adds much …..
How can this not be by far the most serious outbreak here so far, by a country mile?
FWIW, I think people are taking this very seriously and reacting far more quickly here than they are, even now, in the West. Already, even though AFAIK there are still no cases in “my” province, everyone in the town’s back to wearing masks and the market’s been cordoned off again with temperature testing at the one permitted entrance. All pretty basic, but it all helps.
John Brown
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 10:14 am
It appears TT has decided to not publish my reply publicly, which is much to my relief. Not a problem at all TT.
Wherever you are in the country, it’s best to treat the situation as red zone-serious until at least 2 weeks pass without any local transmission, as that is the only indicator we have that the outbreaks have been contained, and even then understand that this is not a guarantee, not even a practical guarantee, until the testing kits have been re-updated to account for all possible known circulating global strains, particularly those circulating anywhere with international flights. If you must venture out, keep your wits fully about you. Be safe everyone.
John Brown
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 2:24 pm
IJ, just a note; I had requested the moderators forward it to you privately (and liability-free) if they weren’t going to publish (which I am glad they did not). So I hope that you have received my answers to your questions. Take care regardless.
John
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 10:32 pm
We all have to mask up again guys, just for a bit more, and for all those disbelievers who were saying that there never will be vaccine for it, where are you now and what kind of stupid theories will you come up with now?
Mike
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 11:58 pm
The fact this needs to e said highlights how backward-looking Thailand is in terms of race relations and racial equality in its society.
Issan John
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 10:39 am
If you’re referring to the authorities saying that migrants should be treated as family, etc, I think you should look closer to home for countries that are considerably more “backward-looking … in terms of race relations and racial equality”.
Much of the West, all too evidently, but particularly those whose elected governments still openly support a “hostile environment” and isolation, build a wall, “me first” policies.
Leo Z
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 12:15 am
Many/most people (including the government) don’t view “farangs” who live, work, invest and pay taxes in Thailand as “family”. They’ll view seasonal Burmese migrant workers as “family”? I think the next investigative report by Thaiger should be on what some CCSA people are smoking.
Bigsleazypappa
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 4:08 am
I’m missing my candy in soi 6 hopefully the borders will be open next year even if you have to show you’ve had the vaccine!! 2021 moving forward can’t be any worse let’s open up and party again,and if all the boring expats haveanything to say jog on
Keith
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 7:20 am
Do you put your family in crowded tin shacks with little or no sanitation, pay them less than minimum wage, then you don’t treat you family very well
Issan John
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 11:02 am
You hardly need to look further than some of the comments made here to see why.
As for the Burmese (and Lao and Khmer), like “families” they have a shared background, ethnicity, religion and culture with Thais, but however much we farangs may “live, work, invest and pay taxes” here, and even marry, we don’t.
babble
Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 4:02 pm
Is there a website with the zone map?