virus

  • Covid-19 News

    First cases of Covid-19 announced in Phuket

    News sources in Phuket are widely reporting 5 cases of Covid-19 in Phuket. The ‘confirmation’ has been reported by The Southern News, Phuket People’s Voice, Phuket Andaman News and Newshawk Phuket. Before today the Phuket Governor has not confirmed any cases on the island. In a meeting at the Centres of Disease Control in Bangkok (below), officials tried to avoid…

  • Covid-19 News

    60 more cases reported in Thailand, taking the total to 272

    Thailand’s director-general of the Department of Disease Control, has announced 60 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 coronavirus infection. 43 of the people were linked to boxing stadiums (including the ‘Lumphini cluster’ at a boxing stadium north west of the capital), entertainment venues, and religious ceremonies. The latest cases is the highest number of new cases in Thailand in 24 hours,…

  • Covid-19 News

    The Infodemic – fake Covid-19 news spreading like a virus

    Social media messages peddling fake Covid-19 cures, dire warnings of draconian lockdowns that prompt panic buying, propaganda by celebrities who should know better – all this and more in the latest viral outbreak, the Infodemic. Some popular myths about Covid-19 below Disinformation, ‘fake news’, misinformation, just plain propaganda… it’s not just harmless gossip, it can help to spread the coronavirus…

  • Covid-19 News

    Top 10 things you should know about Covid-19 coronavirus

    We are all in unchartered territory as the Covid-19 coronavirus starts to impact just about all aspects of our lives. The virus is here and is likely to spread further, making more people sick, some very sick and continue to kill others. Currently the death rate, after more than 2 months of statistics, is around 4%. But epidemiologists say that…

  • Covid-19 News

    30 new cases announced for Thailand – Tuesday

    Sunday, 32 cases. Monday 33 cases. Now another 30 confirmed Covid-19 cases have been confirmed. Thailand now has a confirmed total of 177 cases according to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, Sukhum Kanchanaphimai. As reported in ‘Thailand News Today‘ yesterday, a boxing stadium, north east of the Bangkok city centre, has been the source of new…

  • Covid-19 News

    Buriram provincial government initiates Thailand’s first partial lockdown

    Buriram province, in east of Bangkok, bordering with Cambodia and home of the Thai leg of the MotoGP, is the first of the country’s 76 provinces to take a pro-active stance against the Covid-19 coronavirus. The provincial government has imposed a partial lockdown to restrict the spread of the disease. The Buriram Governor Tatchakorn Hatthathayakul says, even though there has…

  • Covid-19 News

    33 new cases announced for Thailand, total rises to 147

    Yesterday’s announcement of 32 new cases of Covid-19 coronavirus, the most on any single day in Thailand, has been surpassed today with the announcement of 33 new cases for Monday. The total number of infections in Thailand is now 147 people. 36 patients have recovered, 108 are still in hospital and one person has died. Seventeen of the new cases…

  • Thailand News

    Thailand News Today – Monday, March 16

    Hundreds linked to boxing stadium positive Covid-19 test TV celebrity and boxing camp manager Matthew Deane, who tested positive for Covid-19 on March 6, was together with many others who were at the Lumpini boxing stadium. The stadium is in Ramintra Bangkok, north east of the city centre. Then over the weekend, the mayor of the Chachoengsao provincial administration organisation…

  • Covid-19 News

    Coronavirus UPDATE: Fortress Australia, Europe new ‘epicentre’

    As of lunchtime today, there are 156,766 cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus in the world. There have been 5,839 deaths and 75,937 patients who have now recovered. Italy now has more active cases than China, and new Chinese cases have drastically reduced over the past two weeks. The countries with more than 1,000 confirmed cases below… INFOGRAPHIC: worldometers.info In other…

  • Covid-19 News

    US and China compete to control the narrative on the origins of Covid-19

    With the two year trade war between the economic super-powers still being sorted out, the Chinese and US governments have entered into a tit-for-tat exchange of blame for the origins of the Covid-19 virus this week. Conspiracy theories have been fired back and forth between officials in the two countries. Washington has described the coronavirus outbreak as the “Wuhan Virus”.…

  • Covid-19 News

    Thai health minister has a slash at ‘dirty farang’

    Many farang dress dirty and don’t shower. As hosts we have to be very careful.” Thailand’s Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is at it again making public disparaging and xenophobic comments about ‘white’ foreigners (farang). This time he’s warned his fellow Thais about the foreigners fleeing their own countries for the ‘safe haven’ of Thailand. “Today I visited Chiang Mai…

  • Business News

    Thai Airways president and Suvarnabhumi chief resign

    Two of Thailand’s most prominent aviation bosses have thrown in the towel, citing the Thai government’s bungling of the Covid-19 coronavirus situation. Both resignations happened yesterday. The president of Thai Airways, Sumeth Damrongchaitham, resigned yesterday afternoon. That corporate bombshell was closely followed by the resignation of the director of Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Sutheerawat Suwannawat. At this stage the Thai government…

  • Covid-19 News

    Covid-19 now a world pandemic, World Health Organisation

    The Covid-19 coronavirus has now been identified in at least 114 countries, whilst killing more than 4,000 people. From an outbreak, to an epidemic, the coronavirus has now been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. Even though media outlets around the world were starting to use the ‘P’ word, the WHO had so far resisted raising the…

  • Covid-19 News

    “My experiences with Coronavirus in Bangkok”

    Today, the owner of Ohana Poké restaurant ‘Mr. Jay’ in Bangkok, has recently been placed in quarantine after been confirmed with the Covid-19 coronavirus. Feeling concerned, Jay decided to blog about his experiences battling the disease and his personal experiences in quarantine, in an honest and open fashion. Rumours spread after Mr. Jay travelled from Singapore to Bangkok on February…

  • Covid-19 News

    Three new coronavirus cases raises Thailand total to 53

    The number of confirmed Covid-19 coronavirus cases in Thailand has now reached 53 with 3 new cases announced yesterday. The Thai Ministry of Public Health announced that the new cases brought the Thai total to 53, with 33 patients already fully recovered. One person has died and the others remain in hospitals for treatment. One of the new cases is…

  • Covid-19 News

    All arriving passengers now required to provide additional contact info

    The Department of Disease Control plans to impose compulsory measures for all inbound arrivals, including notifying personal information and contact information such as mobile phone numbers and email addresses as part of steps to control the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. The additional arrival formalities will start tomorrow and officials say the new personal information provided by inbound passengers will stay in…

  • Covid-19 News

    Coronavirus UPDATE: China stabilises, Asian markets recover slightly, Italy goes into ‘lockdown’

    More than 4,000 people have now succumbed to the Covid-19 coronavirus as it continues spreading around the globe. As of 12pm today, 4,027 have died from the virus, there are 114,422 cases confirmed around the world and 64,081 people have fully recovered. Whilst most of the cases and deaths are still in mainland China but the numbers of new cases…

  • Covid-19 News

    Reasons you should take Covid-19 seriously – symptoms and prevention

    Viruses are designed to survive, evolve and thrive. The insidious beauty of the Covid-19 virus is that the symptoms in its human hosts can remain dormant for up to 14 days (or so), during which time the host can be highly contagious, milling around in close contact with other humans, oblivious to their role as a ‘spreader’. As of this…

  • Covid-19 News

    Covid-19 coronavirus UPDATE – Italian lockdown, US surge in cases, death rate up to 3.4%

    The cases of coronavirus in China continue to fall as Italy locks down entire cities to contain the virus. New York officials have announced a state of emergency. Around the world, the virus has now infected 95 countries. There is a total of 110,066 cases, 3,830 related deaths and 62,278 total recoveries. The epidemic is moving west as new cases…

  • Covid-19 News

    Document confirms Covid-19 case at Vachira Hospital Phuket

    A document from the Bangkok Disease Control Department has confirmed that there was a 35 year old Chinese patient at Phuket’s Vachira Hospital with coronavirus last month. The documents were made available at a media conference confirming the latest figures from around Thailand yesterday. One of the listings of confirmed cases was the Phuket patient (below). The patient’s listing was…

  • Covid-19 News

    Thai Health Minister laughs at media when asked about his ‘travel restrictions’ document

    “When asked directly why he deactivated his Facebook account after publishing the official memos, signed by himself, Anutin laughed and attempted to deflect the question.” The Thailand government, specifically the gaffe-prone Public Health minister, has thrown the holiday plans of thousands into confusion after the Minister’s orders for any new arrivals from 11 destinations to go into self-imposed quarantine (for…

  • Covid-19 News

    Soi Dog Foundation official statement on Covid-19 and the risk to animal health

    Sent to us from Soi Dog Foundation by Dr.Alicja Izydorczyk MRCVS… There have not been any cases of suspect COVID-19 infection in dogs or cats in Thailand. At present, there is no evidence to show that companion animals such as dogs and cats can be infected with COVID-19. Additionally, there is currently no evidence that companion animals could be a…

  • World News

    UPDATE: Confusion over Thailand designating 11 destinations as ‘high risk’

    Thailand’s Public Health Ministry yesterday designated 9 countries and 2 Chinese territories as high risk areas for the Covid-19 virus. He announced that visitors to Thailand from these destination are now subject to 14 day home quarantine and will have to adhere to strict health-related follow-ups. The official government post, on a Public Health Ministry letterhead, was released to the…

  • Covid-19 News

    Pattaya City officials confirm rumours of Covid-19 in Soi 6 bar staff were fake news

    Staff at a bar in Pattaya have confirmed that they just had a normal seasonal flu and not coronavirus (Covid-19) as had been reported in numerous rumours on social media over the past few days. Hospital results indicated that a staff member from the Pattaya Soi 6 bar did not have the Covid-19 coronavirus. They have now recovered their bout…

  • Events

    Thai Moto GP in Buriram postponed over outbreak fears

    Another casualty of the current coronavirus precautions, one of the biggest sporting events in Thailand – the MotoGP 2020 in Buriram. The event was scheduled for March 20-22 in Buri Ram province, north east Thailand, where it has started to gather a huge local and international following. The Deputy PM and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul made the announcement this morning.…

  • Covid-19 News

    A new case reported in Thailand, total reaches 43 cases and one death

    Thailand’s reported coronavirus cases has now reached 43, since first appearing in January. The permanent secretary of the health ministry reports that the new case is a 22 year old Thai woman who had been working as a driver for foreign tourists with another Thai patient. According to the director-general of the Disease Control Department, health officials had located the woman for…

  • World News

    South Korea wages “all-out response” – cases exceed 4,000

    “The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level.” South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in has announced that is government will wage “all-out responses” in response to the outbreak of coronavirus which has added 476 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total of infections to 4,212. The death toll in South…

  • Covid-19 News

    Panic, precautions and contradictions over Thailand’s first coronavirus death

    Mild panic, and a new raft of precautions pervades the Coronavirus narrative in Thailand as we head into another week. Over the weekend the Health Ministry announced a new range of precautionary measures whilst most of Thailand’s tourist spots remain quiet – a lot quieter than usual. There was also the announcement of the first coronavirus-related death in Thailand over…

  • Covid-19 News

    New confirmed patient brings total to 42. Health ministry announce tough new measures.

    The Thai Public Health Ministry has confirmed a new infection in the country, bringing the national total to 42. 28 patients have already recovered with no deaths recorded in Thailand from the virus. At the same time the health ministry has now designated Coronavirus Covid-19 as a dangerous communicable disease, a designation which takes effect tomorrow. The announcement gives authorities sweeping…

  • Covid-19 News

    Coronavirus myths: Eight things you should probably already know

    Two months after the first cases came to the attention of the world, a lot more is known about the coronavirus, aka. Covid-19. Here’s a few well established myths and a few scientific facts. MYTH: ‘Face masks don’t work’ Wearing a face mask is no guarantee that you won’t be infected. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets and larger…