Coronavirus (Covid-19)
UPDATE: 1,000+ Samut Sakhon Covid-19 cases

More than 1,000 Covid-19 cases are linked to the outbreak in Samut Sakhon, just southwest of Bangkok, according to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. 242 cases were reported today, adding to the 821 previously confirmed cases, tallying up to 1,063.
Since the surge of infections over the weekend, hitting a record high in daily cases, health officials have rolled out mass testing in the province and in some neighbouring areas. More than 6,000 have been tested so far and health officials are still waiting on 2,348 test results.
The cluster of infections is around the Central Shrimp Market in Samut Sakhon. The vast majority of cases are migrant workers, many who live in crowded rooms with “sub-par” sanitary standards, according to the director of the Institute for Urban Disease Control, Vichan Pawun.
The province has 6,082 factories with 233,071 migrant workers and 122,213 Thai workers, according to Federation of Thai Industries chairperson Supant Mongkolsuthree. The area is a major production base for food processing, textiles, auto parts and rubber products.
Since the outbreak in Samut Sakhon, coronavirus prevention measures focused on migrant workers have been imposed in various provinces. A worker camp in Samut Sakhon was even closed off with barbed wire to prevent migrants from leaving.
Foreign labour employment is regulated through a memorandum of understanding with neighbouring countries Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. Supant says the FTI is calling on the government to use these agreements to solve the problem of migrants entering illegally.
SOURCES: Bangkok Post | CCSA
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Thailand
Massage workers in Pattaya call for reopening of spas and massages shops

A group of about 50 workers from Pattaya massage shops and spas gathered together to call for the reopening of their businesses after being closed for the past month due to Covid-19 restrictions. The group called themselves the “Pattaya Health Massage” presented a letter signed by 60 massage shops, spas and gyms to Bang Lamung District Sheriff this morning.
Chon Buri is listed as a “high risk” area with maximum restrictions. Many nonessential businesses in the province have been closed including massage shops, spas and gyms.
Now that Chon Buri has gone 5 consecutive days without a local Covid-19 infection, the workers say it’s time for businesses, like massage shops and spas, to reopen.
The workers also raised the point that other provinces and districts across Thailand are loosening restrictions as the number of active cases continues to drop. The workers also said that there are no Covid-19 clusters or major outbreaks related to massage shops or fitness venues.
Bang Lamung District Sheriff Amnat Charoensri met the protesters and collected the petition and says he understands that many people need to get back to work to earn income. Local officials are expected to hold a meeting within the next week to potentially loosen restrictions.
SOURCE: Pattaya News
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
CCSA Update: 959 new Covid-19 cases, most detected in proactive case finding

Breaking Thailand’s record for highest daily spike in coronavirus cases, 959 new Covid-19 cases were reported today in the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration’s daily briefing. Thailand now has 3,679 active cases. Since the start of the pandemic, Thailand has reported a total of 14,646 cases and 75 coronavirus-related deaths.
The majority of new cases were found in proactive case finding in Samut Sakhon, which has been increased to test 60,000 people in the province this week. With more diligent testing in the Covid-19 hotspot, health officials expected a spike in reported cases. 848 of the 959 new cases were detected proactive testing, most in Samut Sakhon and only 4 in Bangkok.
In Samut Sakhon, 70 other Covid-19 cases were detected during hospital examinations, according to the CCSA. Since the new wave of infections last month, concentrated at a seafood market in the province’s Mahachai fishing hub, 6,555 cases have been reported in Samut Sakhon with the vast majority of cases involving migrant workers. Out of those cases, 5,178 were found in proactive case finding which has tested more than 70,000 people in the area.
The CCSA reports 17 new cases in Bangkok, 1 in Samut Songkham and 1 in Ubon Ratchathani, all exposed to the virus will visiting high risk areas. 22 of the new cases reported today were detected in quarantine for those arriving to Thailand from abroad.

Active Covid-19 cases in Thailand as of January 25, according to Worldometers.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
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Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Samut Sakhon speeds up proactive Covid-19 screening to test at least 60,000 people this week

Proactive Covid-19 testing in Samut Sakhon is increasing and health officials now aim to test at least 60,000 people this week. Medical officials from several hospitals are also coming together to help accelerate the screening at different venues in the province.
The active case finding in Samut Sakhon, the primary “Covid-19 hotspot” in the new wave of infections, health officials will test migrant workers who work at various factories as well as residents in 15 communities, market vendors and other people in high risk groups.
According to the CCSA, with the proactive screening, the number of new infections is expected to be high. And with the current proactive plan to be complete this week, it is expected to find 4,400 new infections or about 7% of those being screened.
SOURCE: Thai PBS World
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Leo Z
Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 10:28 pm
The easy way out of this for Thailand would be to test 20,000 people, find 2,000 infected cases, go to a 10-day lockdown (which would come in handy anyway), and come out of it “clean” by first week of January.
I was reading the other day that CVS (a pharmacy) in the US has conducted 7-8 million tests. That’s just one pharmacy chain. How many tests has Thailand conducted since March? 100,000? It’s kind of simple, no testing –> no virus cases