Thailand to screen arrivals from China as tally of virus infections hits 14

[Sticky Wicket]

2 hours ago, kwak250 said:

Might watch "28 days later " movie tonight.

watch contagion, it's pretty much what is happening now!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, visarunner said:

the screening is useless as patients can carry and spread virus in the incubation period, which is 14 days. Close the borders for Chinese. Mask are useless too. 

 

Neither of the points you make above are true...

 

1. Screening is not useless. Yes, people can be contagious without symptoms. But at least the screening should catch people with symptoms, and every one they catch is one less to be out and around spreading the virus in Thailand. Screening is not a panacea, but it's better than doing nothing.

 

2. N95 class masks will block transmission of the virus thru breathing, but not potentially thru people's eyes. There's a reason you see all the medical personnel wearing N95 masks and goggles or eye shields, and it's not because the N95 masks are useless.

 

On the other hand, cheap paper drugstore masks might help some, but are not nearly as effective, because they typically have open spaces around the edges where unfiltered air can be breathed in. Better than nothing, but not as good as an N95 mask.

 

[outsider]

8 hours ago, Thechook said:

Thai government announced it was contained and 100% under control and they were also curing patients.

 

Just like they have discovered the cure for AIDS, cancer... what else? I forgot LOL

Edited January 29, 2020 by outsider

[outsider]

21 hours ago, Ireland32 said:

Why are they being allowed to enter , Malaysia saying CANNOT 

 

(Tourist) money comes first. They also need to pad up arrival figures so TAT can tell us all how everything is rosy and arrivals are up in a separate news.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Logosone said:

An airborne virus like Cov can enter your body via the eyes. Hence, preventing you from touching nose and mouth is useless.

 

I addition studies have shown that the coronavirus can survive up to 4 days on plastics, glass and similar surfaces. If you wear mask and touch say an escalator that has a smattering of coronavirus, then rub your eyes, guess what will happen.

 

So I am guessing he said that masks are useless because in certain circumstances they are, well, useless.

 

That's why hygiene protocol calls for wearing N95 masks when outside and then immediately washing your hands with soap and water, or an alcohol gel, after removing the mask at home or wherever.

 

The only part that approach doesn't address is potential eye exposure.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, zydeco said:

Until this all shakes out, one way or another, I shall:

 

1) Not get on the BTS

2) Not go to CTW or Paragon or any other mall (Would have included IconSiam, but I've never been there anyway

3) Prepare my food at home

4) Restrict taxis to a minimum and avoid buses

5) Not get on the MRT

6) Limit my range to 2 or 3 km of home and the nearest Foodland and 7 Elevens

7) Watch movies at home

8 ) Read more books

9) Finish the four articles I've been working on.

 

See you on the other side.

 

 

Please add ...

wash my hands thoroughly several times a day

try to not touch my face

clean my keyboard, which is a germ farm

keep some hand sanitizer close to computer and use it "before and after"

stop shaking hands with foreigner friends who do that

most of all , slow down and think!  (Example ... those buttons in the elevator?  Push them with the tip of your key, or corner of wallet .. etc.)

 

We cancelled a shopping trip yesterday ... just decided ... not worth the drama of taxi, BTS, crowds.  So, no ... I do not think you are  "crazy" or over reacting ... just listening to your inner common sense voice.

 

Of course, we have the "luxury" of not working, and a lovely condo / pool to enjoy.  I do pity the people who have to ride the commuter trains at rush hour, and work in the malls, etc.

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, buick said:

useless is probably not the best word to use.  maybe a better way to say it is 'not as great as you might think'.

 

here is a link that provides some explanation. 

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/do-masks-actually-protect-against-coronavirus.html

 

 

The article you linked to may be misunderstood by the casual reader.

 

The masks they're talking about at the beginning as NOT being effective are what they call "surgical masks," which really are the paper drug store type masks that Thais often wear. Those indeed have limited effect re viruses.

 

But then further down in the article, the masks that they say CAN be effective are the N95 class masks that I and others, including the health agencies, have been recommending here consistently. Those CAN be effective against inhaling viruses, but as explained, don't protect the wear's eyes.

 

Quote

 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends anyone workers interacting with coronavirus patients or suspected cases wear a stronger kind of mask, known as the N95 respirator, along with other precautions like gloves and eye protectors.

N95 respirators offer more protection. When fitted correctly, these masks are designed to prevent 95 percent of particles from entering the nose and mouth. However, they are not suitable for people with facial hair, or for children, reports New Scientist. 

 

 

[neeray]

21 hours ago, simtemple said:

Every person infected infects another 2.6. At present, no cases have been reported in the Philippines. ThaiVisa is blocking communications from outside Thailand. Why? 

I am currently outside Thailand. I am not blocked.

[wwest5829]

21 hours ago, Traubert said:

He and the truth are complete strangers.

“The CDC has confirmed five cases of the coronavirus infection in the U.S. — one in Arizona, two in California, one in Washington state and one in Illinois. The agency said all of these patients, the first of whom was diagnosed in Snohomish county, Wash., traveled from China.”

[zydeco]

29 minutes ago, bangkokequity said:

wash my hands thoroughly several times a day

try to not touch my face

clean my keyboard, which is a germ farm

keep some hand sanitizer close to computer and use it "before and after"

stop shaking hands with foreigner friends who do that

most of all , slow down and think!  (Example ... those buttons in the elevator?  Push them with the tip of your key, or corner of wallet .. etc.)

Already do most of those things. One of the good things about Thailand, btw, is the wai. Using that alone, instead of shaking hands, should help slow infection.

[Traubert]

22 hours ago, simtemple said:

Fake news

Meanwhile, Chan belied reports of “confirmed” presence of the 2019-nCoV in his city. The speculation stemmed from a post online that claimed that a family of three was confined in a private hospital in Barangay Agus  due to a confirmed case of 2019-nCoV.

Read more: https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/284428/lapu-mayor-asks-doh-to-ban-flights-from-neighboring-cities-of-wuhan-china#ixzz6CJKrQB70
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Thank you sir. It shows how far out of range the panic meter is going.

[ICELANDMAN]

The person in charge of the city of Wuhan comes to declare that 5 million have left the city before the closure and the primary destination was Thailand. What can go wrong.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, Russell17au said:

America has the highest mortality rate from virus related infections of all other countries in the world followed by Australia and Europe.

 

Do you have some credible source for that claim?

 

If so, you should post it, or stop repeating the same unsourced claim over and over again.

 

[skytrooper70]

What good is taking temperatures, when all reports are that some people with the virus do NOT exhibit all symptoms (which include a fever)? Also, people, who are in the incubation period (up to 15 days), won't exhibit symptoms, right away. 

[skytrooper70]

43 minutes ago, neeray said:

I am currently outside Thailand. I am not blocked.

Ditto. I'm in San Francisco and read ThaiVisa, everyday.

 

[zydeco]

8 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Do you have some credible source for that claim?

 

If so, you should post it, or stop repeating the same unsourced claim over and over again.

 

He's lying. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6815659/

[Traubert]

4 hours ago, emptypockets said:

So many people thrive on drama to get through their boring lives.

Not much will come out of this. Sure people may get sick, most won't and some may die. It's not the Apocalypse so people make it out, or wish it was, to be.

Most countries are taking the same actions as Thailand. An inconvenient truth for some on this forum.

Thank you, the voice of reason.

[peter48]

22 hours ago, zydeco said:

Until this all shakes out, one way or another, I shall:

 

1) Not get on the BTS

2) Not go to CTW or Paragon or any other mall (Would have included IconSiam, but I've never been there anyway

3) Prepare my food at home

4) Restrict taxis to a minimum and avoid buses

5) Not get on the MRT

6) Limit my range to 2 or 3 km of home and the nearest Foodland and 7 Elevens

7) Watch movies at home

8 ) Read more books

9) Finish the four articles I've been working on.

 

See you on the other side.

 

 

OK but remember many thousands of people die from influenza every year in country after country including prosperous ones. Countries outside the prosperous EU have lower life expectancy. Just living in Thailand puts you at higher risks from road accidents, health and safety risks, pollution, unequal  access to leading university hospitals and up to date medicines/treatments so unless this becomes a major , major pandemic get things in perspective. 

[Traubert]

3 hours ago, AlQaholic said:

Why are there no cases in Africa? I guess Ebola is waiting at the airport and saying like: "Corona? You think your bad? You pesky little thing!".

Ah, you watched Trevor Noah too......

[Traubert]

2 hours ago, ExpatLife said:

The influenza you speak of has a mortality rate of 0.1% - at the moment this virus has one of around 15%. It was around 3% but that has recently been amended to 15% 

6040 infected, 132 deaths. Doesn't look like 15% to me. More like 0.021%.

 

This from the real time information being provided on WeChat.

 

Yeah, yeah, CPC, fake, fudge, blah,blah......

[zydeco]

26 minutes ago, peter48 said:

OK but remember many thousands of people die from influenza every year in country after country including prosperous ones.

Yes, but one of the things I can do with regular flu is get a flu shot, something I cannot do with the current bug.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

48 minutes ago, zydeco said:

He's lying. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6815659/

 

Not sure if this is authoritative, but it's certainly indicative on the point:

 

Deaths from Influenza and Pneumonia per 100,000 population.

The numbers next to each country below are their country ranking in terms of per capita death rate from said causes. The higher ranking number means higher relative death rate among countries.

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, wwest5829 said:

“The CDC has confirmed five cases of the coronavirus infection in the U.S. — one in Arizona, two in California, one in Washington state and one in Illinois. The agency said all of these patients, the first of whom was diagnosed in Snohomish county, Wash., traveled from China.”

His figure was much higher than that, he included all the cases suspected and then found to be clear.

 

He does this all the time. Untrue one liners.

[sucit]

Will the screening be as rigorous and effective as the bts and mrt screening stations? 

[DrTuner]

The new diagnoses in China seem eerily linear. I'd like to see to number of total lab analyses done. They are probably maxing out how many samples they can process and respectively the number of diagnosed can only go up by so much.

 

AFAIK they need a culture to do the PCR test. I'm no lab tech so no idea how long the process takes and what the throughput is.

 

But I did see the article about it: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Xq7jT0ErmFsIXZY5m3xoNQ ( Google translate works well enough). If they are maxing out the capabilities, the number of infected is very likely higher than what has been diagnosed.

Edited January 29, 2020 by DrTuner

[Jackin1960]

While here in the UK BA have suspended all flights to China! But Thailand are still welcoming Chinese tourists just how dumb is that?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 minutes ago, Jackin1960 said:

While here in the UK BA have suspended all flights to China! But Thailand are still welcoming Chinese tourists just how dumb is that?

 

It's better to authoritatively source such things, rather than just post them without any source.

 

http://news.trust.org//item/20200129064013-xcfn6/

 

Quote

 

LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - British Airways has suspended all direct flights to and from mainland China after Britain warned against all but essential travel to the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.

BA.com, the airline's website, shows no direct flights to China are available in January and February.

"We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority," BA said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. "Customers due to travel to or from China in the coming days can find more information on BA.com."

 

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

The new diagnoses in China seem eerily linear. I'd like to see to number of total lab analyses done. They are probably maxing out how many samples they can process and respectively the number of diagnosed can only go up by so much.

 

AFAIK they need a culture to do the PCR test. I'm no lab tech so no idea how long the process takes and what the throughput is.

 

But I did see the article about it: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Xq7jT0ErmFsIXZY5m3xoNQ ( Google translate works well enough). If they are maxing out the capabilities, the number of infected is very likely higher than what has been diagnosed.

 

In the heavily impacted area, I would imagine their testing capacity is far less than the demand/need at present, hence a likely backlog.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I wonder if Thailand will ever say this....

 

"We apologise to [our overlord] for the inconvenience, but the safety of our [citizens] is always our priority."

 

[Shocked farang]

The Chinese Wet Market is so filthy and disgusting that I don't understand why they still allow it.

It contains under the same roof all kinds of creatures that can be killed on the spot for consumption and many of them already dead. Among them there are: Pigs, Chicken, Dogs, Bats,

snakes, all kinds of fishes and creatures from the ocean such as turtles, lobsters, crabs, etc...

Now the specialists are saying that this new corona virus probably originated in an animal such as a bat and then jumped into the humans and now it can spread from human to human! 

The government in China must educate the uneducated on virus transmission and eradicate this cruel Wet market forever.