New Lock Downs Just Around The Corner

[PeterRS]

With Bangkok reporting its highest ever daily number of covid19 cases at 1,335 yesterday, the government will consider tomorrow partial lockdowns in parts of Bangkok, in Chiang Mai, Chonburi and Prachuap Kiri Khan.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2099787/partial-lockdown-on-the-table

[TotallyOz]

Official #COVID19 update in #Thailand on Thursday:
Since January 2020
37,453 people infected (+3 imported cases & +1,540 local cases)
97 dead +0 (0.26%)
8,973 people still in care
41 with pneumonia

[PeterRS]

As important, as of mid-December Thailand had had only 4,200 cases and 60 deaths. The government basked in its early success in controlling the pandemic and took its eye right off the ball.

[TotallyOz]

24 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

As important, as of mid-December Thailand had had only 4,200 cases and 60 deaths. The government basked in its early success in controlling the pandemic and took its eye right off the ball.

I am quite disappointed in the way they have dealt with this recently and especially with the way the roll out of vaccines is taking place.

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

I am quite disappointed in the way they have dealt with this recently and especially with the way the roll out of vaccines is taking place.

f it's any consolation , it's how most people in most countries feel about their respective governments

[Guest]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

If it's any consolation , it's how most people in most countries feel about their respective governments

I'm fairly pleased with the way the UK government has dealt with the vaccine roll out. 

Unfortunately they did not pre-manufacture large quantities of vaccine as I would have expected, considering the low cost, but they are way ahead of the EU Commission in vaccine procurement performance. 

As for Thailand, perhaps the government have realized the economy cannot stand continuous lockdowns ?   Or are they more relaxed now those in power have been vaccinated themselves ?   

There is a major fail with Thai vaccine manufacture.   They signed a licensing deal in 2020 to manufacture the Astra Zeneca vaccine, but do not seem to have manufactured any yet.   India has made 100's of millions of doses.

 

[msclelovr]

On 4/15/2021 at 7:34 AM, TotallyOz said:

I am quite disappointed in the way they have dealt with this recently and especially with the way the roll out of vaccines is taking place.

If you can access Al Jazeera TV @TotallyOz I recommend their excellent news service. They have corespondents based in Bangkok and this Sunday morning there was an lengthy report on the situation in Thailand.
 

There was film of people testing positive and even if asymptomatic, being quarantined in isolation facilities for 14 days. No at-home quarantine is allowed. If symptoms develop, they are transferred to a hospital. Against the rapid rise in cases, it was mentioned that less than 1% of people have been vaccinated. 

On 4/15/2021 at 12:46 PM, z909 said:

I'm fairly pleased with the way the UK government has dealt with the vaccine roll out. 

Unfortunately they did not pre-manufacture large quantities of vaccine as I would have expected, considering the low cost, but they are way ahead of the EU Commission in vaccine procurement performance. 

A profound misunderstanding @z909. The UK Government took a “venture capital” approach to vaccines, ordering large amounts and prepaying before any of the vaccines had been developed. It also intervened to prevent Oxford University working with Merck in the US to develop a vaccine  to be produced in the US because it feared that the US Government would use its existing powers to prevent the export of any vaccine that proved successful. Also, Merck only offered “reasonable best efforts” to supply the vaccine to the UK. (This is the same clause that the EU Commission has in its contracts).

The UK Govt persuaded AstraZeneca (a company with no prior experience in vaccines) to work with Oxford by offering to pay all the development costs. In return for assuming all financial risk, the UK Govt insisted on an absolute guarantee of supply and that the Oxford-AZ vaccine be provided at a very low cost, not only to the UK but also to low-income countries around the world during the pandemic.

The EU wasted some months arguing with Oxford-AZ trying to get them to supply their vaccine at a lower cost than the UK had paid. Having failed to lower what is essentially the cost-price, the EU signed a contract with only a “reasonable best efforts” clause (see above).

Of course, vaccine manufacture is a complex process. It involves various facilities, mainly in the UK and Belgium. Recently the Belgians acknowledged the significant financial injection by the UK and its lending a team of technical experts to improve the production process at the main plant there. 

IMO the UK Govt has done an excellent job. The EU seems to be good at the ‘blame game’ but has been shown to be bureaucratic and incompetent. 
 

 

 

 

[Patanawet]

Searched through Al Jazeera but could find nothing about Thailand today.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, msclelovr said:

A profound misunderstanding @z909. The UK Government took a “venture capital” approach to vaccines, ordering large amounts and prepaying before any of the vaccines had been developed.

Yes, but I was referring to MANUFACTURING large quantities prior to approval.     Manufacturing is different to ordering and paying.    I think you misunderstood what I said.

I know the UK government pre-ordered and did a much better job than the EU.     

However, ideally we would have had a contract which includes advance manufacturing of millions of doses "at risk" prior to approval.    Then if there are several million doses in the fridge on the day the vaccine is approved, vaccination could be even quicker.

[msclelovr]

No misunderstanding on my part. I read what you wrote, but it’s simply not practicable to manufacture “millions of doses” in advance of the regulatory approval. 
 

The necessary ingredients are in short supply nowadays. What you may think of as possibly the simplest thing - the vial for the vaccine - is now in short supply worldwide. The shortages are such that more conventional but needed products (eg insulin) are having their supply restricted. 

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, msclelovr said:

No misunderstanding on my part. I read what you wrote, but it’s simply not practicable to manufacture “millions of doses” in advance of the regulatory approval. 
 

The necessary ingredients are in short supply nowadays. What you may think of as possibly the simplest thing - the vial for the vaccine - is now in short supply worldwide. The shortages are such that more conventional but needed products (eg insulin) are having their supply restricted. 

Totally incorrect !

The equipment required to manufacture is in short supply in 2021, as everyone is now trying to manufacture vaccines.     Had any government ordered large quantities of a vaccine to be produced in the second half of 2020, prior to approval, they would have got ahead of the rush for vaccines.   In fact, they would have probably smoothed out demand slightly, by pulling some of it forward & getting the supply chain ramping up production earlier.  

Of course, there's a downside risk that they would have bought and paid for a vaccine which might not be used.     But at £4~5 per dose for the AZN vaccine, that would be a very sensible gamble compared with the cost of the alternatives.

 

Also, next time you accuse someone of having a "profound misunderstanding", it's best if you actually explain why by referring back to the original comments that demonstrate the "profound misunderstanding".

If the so called "profound misunderstanding" requires references to things the accused hasn't written, then it resembles trolling.    

In which case, the only question is why am I giving this nonsense any of my time ?

 

[likeohmygod]

10 hours ago, msclelovr said:

The EU wasted some months arguing with Oxford-AZ trying to get them to supply their vaccine at a lower cost than the UK had paid. Having failed to lower what is essentially the cost-price, the EU signed a contract with only a “reasonable best efforts” clause (see above).
 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/17/europe/uk-astrazeneca-vaccine-contract-details-intl/index.html

Thanks for the (wrong and one-sided) lesson professor Potter.

An interesting article for fair minded people about the situation, since this has been brought out...like if talking shit about the EU (which for Brexiteers is infested and populated by morons and incompetent people) has became perfectly fine in a forum talking about sexual tourism in Thailand:

https://theconversation.com/did-the-uk-outsmart-the-eu-over-astrazeneca-vaccines-157926

[GWMinUS]

Please keep this Thread on Topic!!

It is about Thailand, not the UK or the EU...

[reader]

From Bangkok Post

Red-zone shopping hours cut further

Operating hours of shopping malls, supermarkets and convenience stores will be shortened further in 18 high-risk provinces in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19, the Thai Retailers Association (TRA) said on Saturday.

In addition, 42 provinces have now made mask-wearing in public mandatory, while officials in Nonthaburi are asking — but not yet ordering — residents to stay home from 9pm to 4am.

Starting on Sunday, the TRA said, shopping malls and community malls in 18 provinces will be open from 11am to 8pm; supermarkets and food courts must close at 9pm, and convenience stores must close from 10pm to 5am. The new hours will be in effect until May 2.

The changes apply in the following “red zone” provinces: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Phuket, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Rayong, Sa Kaew, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Songkhla, Suphan Buri, Tak and Udon Thani.

Eight Covid deaths, record 2,839 new cases

Eight Covid-19 deaths and a record 2,839 new cases, 1,582 of them in Bangkok, were reported on Saturday, bringing the totals to 129 deaths and 53,022 cases.

The current outbreak since April 1 has now infected 26,998 people and killed 43.

[anddy]

Now they have a new color scheme: dark red, red and orange. No more yellow and green. They change not just the classifications of provinces according to the latest infections numbers, but change the whole scheme when things change. I think this is the third scheme.... 

After failing to cancel Songkran and thus spreading the virus nicely throughout the country, at least they are trying to get it under control quickly with the usual measures, but some are a new low of not making sense: Closing restaurants for dine in, fair enough, only take-away/delivery BUT ONLY UNTIL 9pm!! WTF is that supposed to achieve? Probably a de-facto curfew without having to actually call it one. No idea how that helps limiting virus spread. */end of rant lol

Anyway, all the high flying opening plans for July and October look very much like pipe dreams again (unsurprisingly)

[Gaybutton]

I agree with anddy on this one.  And if the current measures fail to significantly curtail Covid, I see things getting far more difficult before they get any better.

I applaud efforts to bring this under control and nobody wants Thailand to become another India, but some of the more absurd rules have found a special place on my "I Don't Get It" list.

[NIrishGuy]

On 5/1/2021 at 2:57 PM, anddy said:

Closing restaurants for dine in, fair enough, only take-away/delivery BUT ONLY UNTIL 9pm!! 

The UK Government actually applied this same early closing rule during the UK lockdowns as well, I cant say Im aware of the published reason but I think it was mainly an acceptance that people needed to eat and so those who wished to ordered carry out food - up until 8/9pm etc, but the hope then was that once you were fed you stayed home and as everywhere else was closed had no further need to go out anywhere after that 9pm 'unpublished" curfew time perhaps.

[Guest]

I think the UK early closing rules were only applied to pubs and restaurants, last year.   There might just be an argument in favour of the rule for such venues, as there is the temptation for people to have "one more" drink and for venues to get more lively as the night goes on.  So if the pubs are shut at 9:00 or 10:00, it stops that issue.

I can't see any benefit at all from the Thai idea of reducing shop opening hours.   Surely the customer demand is relatively independent of opening hours ?    So the optimum solution would be to have all shops to open 24-7 and simultaneously limit the number of customers on the premises, so the shopping is spread out over a longer period.   Having said that, efforts at limiting the number of customers on the premises tend to involve herding them in through one entrance and out through another, hence creating crowding.

 

[reader]

Record 31 Covid deaths 2,041 new infections

The Public Health Ministry on Monday reported a new daily high of 31 coronavirus deaths and 2,041 new infections over the previous 24 hours.

This took the total number of cases to  71,025 since the pandemic began last year. The death toll now stands at 276.

This was about 50% up on the 21 deaths reported on both Saturday and Sunday.

The new wave, which includes the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant first detected in Britain, has accounted for more than half of total cases and deaths since the start of the pandemic.

As the rising toll was announced, a respected professor of medicine warned the kingdom faces a crisis if the number deaths continues to rise.

"If the figures do not go down and instead continue to rise, that means we are moving towards the real crisis stage," Prasit Watanapa, dean of Siriraj Hospital's faculty of medicine, said during the daily briefing of the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Dr Prasit urged people to be strict about wearing face masks, to follow all measures advocated to curb the latest outbreak and to accept vaccination.

Dr Apisamai said the main concern was in Bangkok, especially three communities in Klong Toey district of Bangkok, the centre of a new cluster. The district reported 304 new transmissions last month, most of them in three congested communities of Pattana Mai, 70 Rai and Rim Klong Wat Saphan, she said.

These three communities were the prime focus of mass testing. Plans to curb new infections in Klong Toey district were the main agenda of talks between health authorities on Monday afternoon.

Deputy Defence Forces spokeswoman Col Chatrapee Poonsawat said on Monday the military was erecting a new field hospital for up to 300 patients at a warehouse at Klong Toey Port.

The CCSA said the country recorded only one new imported case, a Thai national who returned from Cambodia on April 22. He was under treatment at Sa Kaeo Hospital.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2109635/record-31-covid-deaths-2-041-new-infections