Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Numbers go up: 38 local Covid-19 cases now related to Myanmar border town

So far, 38 local Covid-19 cases are related to Myanmar’s border town Tachileik. A second hospital in Chiang Rai is now prepared to treat patients for the coronavirus as 6 more returnees in quarantine tested have positive for the virus and more cases are expected.
Many of the cases are linked to the now-infamous 1G1-7 Hotel in Tachileik. The venue has been closed since November 24 due to the outbreak.
The entertainment complex is about 1.5 kilometres from the Thai border. According to the Bangkok Post, the complex is backed by foreign investors and has “pubs, young girls, drinks, karaoke and a casino.” A Tachileik resident claims the Thai women worked as prostitutes and the coronavirus spread through sex.
Out of the 38 cases related to Tachilek, 26 of the cases were detected in Chiang Rai. The first 10 cases were Thai women who returned from Tachileik illegally, evading the immigration screening and the mandatory quarantine. Some travelled to other provinces, like Chiang Mai and Bangkok, before testing positive for Covid-19.
There have been only a handful of local transmissions since then. The majority of recent cases related to Tachileik have been detected in quarantine. Chiang Rai officials have been encouraging Thais in Myanmar to return through the second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, the official border crossing.
Out of the 6 new cases detected in quarantine today, 4 are women who worked at the 1G1-7 Hotel, according to public health chief Thossathep Boonthong. The other 2 women worked at the Hollywood nightclub and karaoke bar in Myanmar.
With an outbreak in Tachileik, Chiang Rai officials expect more Thais to flee the area. Hundreds of Thais work in the border town, according to director of the Communicable Diseases Division, Sophon Iamsirithaworn.
Covid-19 patients are being treated at the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital. If the hospital reaches capacity, the Mae Fah Luang Medical Centre at Mae Fah Luang University in Muang district will start treating coronavirus patients.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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Thailand
Chulalongkorn University to start human trials for its Covid-19 vaccine

The vaccine research centre at Chulalongkorn University is planning to start human trials of its mRNA vaccine candidate, called Chula – Cov19, in April. The university received prototype vaccines from factories in the United States. If the human trials are effective, the first million doses of locally-produced vaccines could available this year.
According to the centre’s director Dr. Kiat Ruxrungtham, the human trials will be conducted on 72 volunteers to assess the right dosages. The second stage of efficacy and safety is expected to be performed on about 600 volunteers from June until September.
He also says that the centre’s mRNA vaccines can be stored at 5◦C, compared to the Pfizer vaccine that must be well kept at below -70◦C. Therefore, the Thai-made vaccine is expected to be easier and more convenient for storage management. However, there will be a test to find the right temperature for the vaccine storage.
The Chula – Cov19 vaccine development project a collaboration between Chulalongkorn University’s vaccine research centre and Pennsylvania University in the US. The centre’s research team has been studying several vaccine candidates since the Covid-19 outbreak last year.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World | Chulalongkorn Hospital
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Bangkok
Chatuchak market is in worst crisis in 5 decades due to Covid-19, vendors say

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok’s biggest market and a popular tourist destination, is hit hard by the new wave of Covid-19. With the lack of foreign tourists due to travel restrictions over the past year, as well as more locals staying at home despite the market’s strict disease control measures, the number of visitors at the market has dropped by 90%.
Vendors at the market say this is the worst situation in 50 years. Most of them report no sales at all. With little to no income, many shops at the market have shut down. Although the BMA is trying to relieve the situation by lowering the rental fees by half, that seems not enough to help the business. Some of the vendors have tried online trading, but sales are still low.
SOURCE: Thai Visa
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Thailand
Hotline set up for reports on alleged Covid-19 measure violations

The government is now encouraging people to help report activities deemed to violate the government’s rules and regulations to curb the spread of Covid-19 by calling the national hotline at 1111. People can report on any violations set by the Emergency Decree, which has been in place since last year and extended numerous times to combat the coronavirus.
The government says people can call the hotline for major violations, like labour trafficking across Thailand’s porous border with Myanmar, which is said to have led to the new wave of infections affecting a large migrant community in Samut Sakhon. People can also phone in the hotline for minor violations, even like gatherings that don’t abide by disease control measures.
According to the government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri, hundreds of citizens were reported violating the Covid-19 restriction measures and laws despite the Emergency Decree.
The hotline is open for the report of the alleged Covid-19 violations and also general complaints related to Covid-19 situations. All complaints and reports are expected to be fully investigated by agencies in charge and all information of callers will be kept confidential. Service for English speakers is available upon request.
Since being set up, the hotline has received a total of 32,008 inquiries and general questions so far.
SOURCE: Pattaya News
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Issan John
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 6:14 pm
Looks like the track and test system works after all …
Ian
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 6:46 pm
How many have got through with covid already undetected and are spreading it as we speak and not just from Myanmar ??? God help Thailand if it spreads in Bangkok again .
Jack Sombra
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 6:39 pm
‘ A Tachileik resident claims the Thai women worked as prostitutes and the coronavirus spread through sex.”
Why would you add that general misinformation to the article? Its not in the posts version. Sure it can be transmitted via intercourse but far far more likly it was transmitted via normal methods, you know,just being around infected people.
Issan John
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:10 pm
Are you “sure it can be transmitted via intercourse”, unless it’s indirectly?
I’ve never seen anything to suggest it can (not that that means anything).
Peter
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 6:41 pm
You better hope so buddy or you and your ex bar girl wife are in a world of trouble.
Pattaya Paul
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 6:50 pm
How many customers of prostitutes do you think left real contact details.
Issan John
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:12 pm
Their customers at 1G1 are probably of little concern to Thailand.
Glenn
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 7:07 pm
are these 38 sick with significant symptoms?
are they asymptomatic?
how many CT (cycles) were the PCR test run at?
how many have died?
if these people are sent to hospital, what is the treatment if asymptomatic?
14cycles
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 9:14 pm
Anything more than 14 cycles and its bull. The fact they are not reporting this is criminal as testing and cases are easily inflated this way. A PCR positive test does not indicate infection either.
Toby Andrews
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 10:07 pm
I agree.
If these contagious persons do not infect others, were they really infectious?
Or were Thais complicit in a scam to admit healthy Thais to hospital to collect kickbacks from the hospital?
I smell rats – Thai rats.
Issan John
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:17 pm
How exactly would this “scam” you’re so keen on work?
Who would actually be paying who, and from what?
Where would the “kickbacks” come from?
Just asking …..
Issan John
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:35 pm
“If these contagious persons do not infect others, were they really infectious?”
By definition, ‘yes’.
It’s impossible for it to be otherwise, since all contagious diseases are infectious while not all infectious diseases are contagious. Tetanus and malaria are examples of infectious diseases that aren’t contagious, while Covid-19 is an infectious disease that is contagious – ‘spread through direct, bodily contact with an infected person, their discharges, or an object or surface they’ve contaminated’.
Maag
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 8:18 pm
Can do better !
Gosport
Monday, December 7, 2020 at 8:32 pm
Lock up all fleeing locals
Whiro
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 12:24 am
Keep thinking. lol
Antifascist
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:21 am
I think there is a good chance of having half the population of America dead
TheThaiger
You don’t see any xenophobia in the message Mark M Hummel
EdwardV
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 3:49 am
“return through the second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge” – Nothing like a little friendship between neighbors.