Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
Latest from today’s Bangkok Post:
Quote:
Whistleblower doctor dies, virus death toll rises to at least 630
published : 7 Feb 2020 at 07:22
A Chinese doctor, among the first to raise the alert about China's new coronavirus, himself died from the pathogen on Friday, emphasising the depth of a worsening crisis that has killed at least 630 people.
For full details see: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/18...o-at-least-630
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
I received the following advice from the UK Government via email for British nationals returning to the UK from Thailand and other parts of Asia:
Quote:
Thailand travel advice
Change made
Health section (Coronavirus) – addition of link to advice from the Department of Health and Social Care if returning to the UK from Thailand
Time updated
6:08pm, 6 February 2020
From the Health Section of the British Embassy in Bangkok:
Quote:
Coronavirus
There is an ongoing outbreak of coronavirus. The virus originated in Wuhan City, Hubei Province but cases have been confirmed in other parts of China and the region, including Thailand. You should comply with any additional screening measures put in place by the local authorities.
If you’re returning to the UK from Thailand, consult the latest advice from the Department of Health and Social Care on actions you should take if you develop symptoms on your return.
Further advice on coronavirus available from Public Health England, and the TravelHealthPro website.
Link to Embassy website: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-ad...hailand/health
Advice from the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK :
Quote:
Situation in the UK
Three patients in England have tested positive for coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty, has shared a statement. If more cases are confirmed in the UK, it will be announced as soon as possible by the Chief Medical Officer of the affected country.
Based on the World Health Organization’s declaration that this is a public health emergency of international concern, the UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. This permits the government to plan for all eventualities. The risk to individuals remains low.
Based on the scientific advice of SAGE the UK Chief Medical Officers are advising anyone who has travelled to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau in the last 14 days and is experiencing cough or fever or shortness of breath, to stay indoors and call NHS 111, even if symptoms are mild.
These areas have been identified because of the volume of air travel from affected areas, understanding of other travel routes and number of reported cases. This list will be kept under review. Our advice for travellers from Wuhan and Hubei Province remains unchanged from the below.
As of 5 February, a total of 566 UK tests have concluded, of which 563 were confirmed negative and 3 positive.
1,466 passengers and 95 staff arrived in the UK on direct flights from Wuhan between 10 and 24 January.
• 162 of the passengers have already left the UK
• 53 of the crew have already left the UK
• All of the remaining 1304 passengers are now outside of the incubation period
We have been working in close collaboration with international colleagues and the World Health Organization to monitor the situation in China and around the world.
The Department of Health and Social Care will be publishing updated data on this page on a daily basis at 2pm until further notice.
Information about the virus
A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to a severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.
Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.
Novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China.
Advice for travellers
British people travelling and living overseas following the outbreak of novel coronavirus should check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has advised UK nationals to leave China where possible. If the situation continues to escalate the pressure on the Chinese health system may intensify, and it may also become harder for people to travel.
This change does not affect our advice for those returning from Wuhan or mainland China.
Link to website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-no...for-the-public
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
The following advice has been issued to airlines in the last hour and suggests that masks are virtually useless.
They recommended frequent washing of hands, hand sanitising as a priority,
This quote from the article. full reference below
Q: What's important if you are on a plane to ensure you don't get infected?
A: Hand hygiene -- because contrary to what people think, the hands are the way that these viruses most efficiently spread. Top of the list is frequent hand washing, hand sanitising, or both. Avoid touching your face. If you cough or sneeze, it's important to cover your face with a sleeve. Better yet, a tissue to be disposed of carefully, and then sanitising the hands afterward. Washing your hands and drying them is the best procedure. When that's not easy to do, alcohol-based sanitiser is a good second-best.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia...07-p53yks.html
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
This is what the BBC News website had to say on January 20, 2020 about the effectiveness of wearing face masks: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-51299570 And on the same website, but dated January 23, 2020: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-51205344
And with regard to the point made by lonelywombat about hand hygiene, I have noticed that, at the entrances to nearly all of the shopping malls and some other public places I have so far visited in Bangkok, they are providing bottles of antiseptic hand gel for public use.
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
Now, talking about face masks, in today’s Bangkok Post the Thai Health Minister is reported as apologising for saying that a group of foreigners should be "kicked out of Thailand" for refusing to wear them . . .
Quote:
Health minister apologises for anti-Western slurs
published : 8 Feb 2020 at 09:41
newspaper section: News
writer: Post Reporters
People buy face masks at one of two makeshift stalls set up near Government House yesterday morning. As many as 20,000 masks were reportedly snapped up in half an hour. Sales of the masks — a box of 10 for 25 baht — were limited to one set per person.
Government efforts to solve the shortage and high prices of face masks took a hit on Friday after Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had to apologise for saying that a group of foreigners should be "kicked out of Thailand" for refusing to wear them.
Mr Anutin took to Facebook to say sorry after he criticised farang, the Thai word for "Westerners", suggesting they had put the general public at risk amid the coronavirus outbreak and should be deported . . .
See full report at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...-western-slurs
Also in today’s Bangkok Post:
Quote:
China virus toll hits 717 as cruise ship faces two-week quarantine
published : 8 Feb 2020 at 06:45
writer: AFP
BEIJING: The death toll from China's coronavirus outbreak rose to 717 on Saturday as the country seethes over an epidemic that claimed the life of a popular doctor and created global panic.
The toll has now surpassed the number of people who died in mainland China and Hong Kong during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, after another 81 people succumbed to the illness in central Hubei province.
More than 34,000 people have been infected in China by the new strain, which is believed to have emerged in a market that sold exotic animals in Hubei's capital, Wuhan, late last year . . .
See full report at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/18...eek-quarantine
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
The latest news on the coronavirus as published in today’s Bangkok Post:
Quote:
Vendors arrested for overpriced face masks as government clamps down
published : 9 Feb 2020 at 05:01
newspaper section: News
writer: Post Reporters
At least 11 vendors have been arrested for selling face masks at inflated prices, the authorities revealed on Saturday, saying they were striving to ensure a better distribution of protective gear and hand-sanitising gel across the country.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the vendors were nabbed as part of a government crackdown on overpricing of these items, which have been categorised as specially-controlled goods . . .
See full report at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...nt-clamps-down
Also from the Bangkok Post:
Quote:
Seven new virus cases found
published : 8 Feb 2020 at 13:48
writer: Reuters
The Public Health Ministry reported seven new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, including three Thais and four Chinese.
The new cases brought the total reported in the country to 32, among the world's highest number of infections outside of China.
"The seven new cases are all in hospital," said Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai, director-general of the Disease Control Department . . .
See full report at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand...us-cases-found
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
Meanwhile, in the UK, as the global death toll climbed to 725, it is reported in The Sunday Times:
Quote:
UK faces ‘major’ coronavirus outbreak, warns world expert
New disease is greater threat than ebola and could overwhelm NHS
Britain could suffer a “major outbreak” of the coronavirus, which is likely to become a pandemic, according to the microbiologist who co-discovered ebola and the presence of Aids in Africa.
Professor Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said he was “increasingly alarmed” by the rapid spread of the virus and the “huge” number of cases emerging daily.
Almost 35,000 people in at least 28 countries have been infected, with 3,500 new cases yesterday. Among them were five Britons, including a boy aged nine, in the ski resort of Contamines-Montjoie in the French Alps, bringing the total number of cases involving UK citizens to seven. The global death toll climbed to 725.
The virus poses more danger than ebola, Piot said: “It’s a greater threat because of the mode of transmission. The potential for spread is much, much higher.” He said that even with a low death rate, “if the number of people who get infected is huge, then that will also kill a number of people”.
Ministers have ordered a “no-deal style” emergency plan amid fears that China will shut down for months, leaving Britain without goods that are manufactured there.
An uptick in cases could also overwhelm the NHS, said Piot, a former under-secretary-general of the UN who led the worldwide fight against Aids: “You know how already overburdened the NHS is and if you’ve got a sudden major rise in cases of pneumonia or milder respiratory infections . . . The NHS can hardly cope with the normal situation.”
The outbreak is unlikely to peak until the end of this month or in March, he said. A vaccine is also “unlikely” before the outbreak ends, he added. There is no cure.
His warning came as it emerged that China has snubbed offers of help from America and others. Privately, Chinese doctors say they are growing desperate for outside expertise.
A disturbing report on 138 patients in Wuhan, the centre of the virus, revealed turmoil with some so-called “super-spreaders” wreaking havoc.
One patient infected at least 10 health workers and four other patients. The World Health Organisation (WHO) considers the crisis to be an epidemic. If it declares the outbreak as a pandemic, meaning a new disease that is spreading globally, it would be the first in more than a decade.
Britain may not escape a surge in infections, Piot said: “In today’s world, no epidemic remains just a local affair. What happens thousands and thousands of miles from here in China has the potential of causing a major outbreak here.”
Last night about 200 Britons were on a chartered flight from Wuhan. They will be quarantined for two weeks in Milton Keynes.
So far, 686 people have been tested in the UK, with all but three negative. Tomorrow the tests will be extended nationwide, enabling 1,000 results a day.
Piot said a “big unknown” is the number of people infected but displaying no symptoms. The outbreak looks far more like the spread of H1N1, or swine flu, the last pandemic, than Sars, he said.
He gave qualified praise to China for showing “far more openness” than during the Sars epidemic, even if local authorities could have reacted much earlier.
The WHO last night warned that “trolls and conspiracy theories” were undermining its response to the virus. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, its director-general, said misinformation was “making the work of our heroic workers even harder”.
@AndrewGregory
Link to The Times website: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
The latest news from today’s Bangkok Post:
Quote:
China stutters back to work as virus deaths soar
published : 10 Feb 2020 at 09:45
writer: AFP
BEIJING: Millions of people in China were returning to work on Monday after an extended holiday designed to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, which has killed more than 900 people in the country.
At least 40,000 people in China have now been infected by the virus, believed to have emerged late last year in Hubei province's capital Wuhan.
And although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are tentative signs the epidemic is stabilising in China, the agency's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the number of cases recorded overseas could be just "the tip of the iceberg" . . .
For full report see: https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/18...us-deaths-soar
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
...why is it that I don't care...not even slightly worried....havent made even the slightest change to my schedule
Re: Coronavirus - Thailand
At last a sensible reply form the Latin!