Coronavirus in Thailand: Should you be worried and do you need to wear a mask?

[Logosone]

Thailand actually did an excellent job in the last SARS pandemic, only two people died in Thailand according to WHO numbers.

 

https://www.who.int/csr/sars/country/2003_07_11/en/

 

I would like to thank the hard working officials of Thailand, the police, for their excellent work and have absolute trust that this superb record will continue.

 

Extrapolating from the University of Goettingen's worst case scenario of 100,00 deaths, this could mean 250 deaths in Thailand for Cov. 

 

We are very safe in Thailand, in no small measure due to the wise, competent and exemplary leadership of the Thai government and its hard working officials.

[Kelsall]

Extreme times call for extreme measures...

 

"Terrified passengers wear PLASTIC BOTTLES and motorbike helmets to protect themselves against corona virus"

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/10844438/coronavirus-desperate-passengers-plastic-bottles-helmets/

 

[DrTuner]

2 minutes ago, Logosone said:

Thailand actually did an excellent job in the last SARS pandemic, only two people died in Thailand according to WHO numbers.

I wasn't in Thailand until 2006, but I don't remember seeing many Chinese people here at the time. 2003 probably very few. Also, SARS had the benefit of only being contagious when having symptoms, easier case.

[Logosone]

All valid points, so let's look at the last H1N1 flu pandemic, which killed 519,000 people world wide. 

 

192 died in Thailand from H1N1, which is also contagious without symptoms, like Cov. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_flu_pandemic_in_Asia

 

But then that was a huge pandemic.

 

Again, looks like Thailand did a good job in 2009, 519,000 deaths world wide and only 192 dead in Thailand.

 

I would estimate, worst case scenario the number of deaths due to Cov in Thailand will be around the 300 mark.

 

Absolute worst case scenario.

 

[whiteman]

dreams are free

[RoiEtDale]

They should have named it the Kung Flu virus instead of a Mexican beer. Why bring Mexico into it? 

[Maitdjai]

A complete body condom makes sense!

"SM" style.

[metisdead]

A post replying to a now removed post has been removed. 

[ebean001]

the % in this article seems quite wrong. 1% of the world population is about 80 million. maybe I missed something.

[Khun Loong]

100 people dead in 3 weeks of this virus and the majority of Thais wearing face masts thinking it will save them. 60 people a day dying on the roads and thai friends just laugh at me when I suggest they wear a seatbelt. 

[mikebell]

The chances of dying from lung disease through poor air quality is a hundred times greater than this virus but nothing is done about carbon emissions; you are expected to live (die) with it.

[gjoo888]

I will no longer drink Corona Beer.

[Raven2]

I haven't yet seen any information regarding infected asians and infected farangs.

[spidermike007]

Let us look at this with a bit of perspective. This particular strain seems to be a type of flu virus. In the US alone, 80,000 people died from the flu last year. Worldwide it is 291,000 to 646,000 people annually! The flu attacks the immune and respiratory systems, and those that are older, weaker, or the youth seem to be more susceptible. It is usually respiratory issues, linked to the flu. So far, with 6,000 cases and around 130 deaths, this is a mere blip on the screen, in terms of the devastation that the typical flu virus wreaks annually. So, no need to panic. Only a 3% mortality rate, and mostly older folks. 

 

However having said that, there is no avoiding panic, on the part of the public. And since Thailand is making zero effort to limit the amount of incoming tourists from China (numbers are everything here), it is bound to spread more, and tourism is going to take a massive hit. What the grossly incompetent authorities do not seem to get is that quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all. The tourism industry is teetering on the edge of a tragic drop, and has already been devastated by this highly destructive administration. All it needs now is a spread of this virus. It could crush millions of families dependent on tourism. 

 

Why take a chance? Who can trust the Thai authorities, and what they say? Why trust them? What have they done to earn that trust? And how many flights from China, are still coming into Thailand daily? That is a scary thought. I like the Chinese people, but do not want to be anywhere near them right now! My guess is that most of the world's people feel the same way, at this moment. 

 

An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter — the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, revealed the total in an interview Tuesday night with The Associated Press.

 

https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/26/cdc-us-flu-deaths-winter/

 

The CDC said between 291,000 and 646,000 people die from seasonal flu-linked respiratory illnesses. Earlier projections from the WHO of deaths from seasonal flu — 250,000 to 500,000 per year — “are outdated,” according to the study published Wednesday in The Lancet. 

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/cdc-says-more-people-die-of-influenza-worldwide-than-who-estimated

 

 

 

[ChipButty]

A pair of these would be more useful than a mask

[Redoubt]

Few people outside of China are aware that the vast majority of Chinese People believe only in "Traditional Chinese Medicine".  This means that they do not believe that microorganisms, such as bacteria and viruses actually cause illnesses and diseases!!  Thus, they do not use soap to wash hands, and will not seek modern medicines for inoculations or remedial drugs, etc.  This fact will certainly lead to the protracted term of misery this latest virus may visit upon the Chinese People of the PRC.

[Iron Tongue]

So are bargirls wearing face masks?

[Tony125]

On 1/28/2020 at 6:34 PM, Don Mega said:

is there a mask that works?

The N95 is the most protective but the regular 2.5 masks offer some protection and are better than nothing. They can protect those with a virous from spreading it by  coughing/snezzing. Also if someone coughs the droplets are not landing directly in your nasil passages mouth. Sure not 100 percent effective as hazmat suit but be real we can't walk around like that so offers some protection. Persons are advised to wash hands frequently , use alcohol/germacide hand sprays , stay away from infected  people, eat healthy, get rest to keep immune system strong.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2231535-can-an-n95-face-mask-protect-you-from-catching-the-new-coronavirus/

 

 

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

The N95 is the most protective but the regular 2.5 masks offer some protection and are better than nothing. They can protect those with a virous from spreading it by  coughing/snezzing. Also if someone coughs the droplets are not landing directly in your nasil passages mouth. Sure not 100 percent effective as hazmat suit but be real we can't walk around like that so offers some protection. Persons are advised to wash hands frequently , use alcohol/germacide hand sprays , stay away from infected  people, eat healthy, get rest to keep immune system strong.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2231535-can-an-n95-face-mask-protect-you-from-catching-the-new-coronavirus/

 

 

 

Another facet of wearing a mask, especially for kids is to minimise the hand to mouth contact.

 

Children instinctively touch things, they don’t think about touching their mouths afterwards. When out and about  a child wearing a mask will not be able to touch their mask, which should be well fitted so that they are not constantly having to adjust their mask.

 

There have been some articles which suggest that masks actually increase the risk because they encourage additional hand to face contact, but I disagree with this. These articles assume the populace are total idiots everyone is ‘reusing their one time masks’ some may, but not everyone. 

 

Additionally, if everyone wears a mask, the risks of virus spread through coughing and sneezing are reduced (i.e. if the sick wear masks - all masks must be disposed of correctly after single use (i.e. for a couple of hours when out in public). 

 

So... the real question about these masks, is, how should we be disposing of them?  the only available options are in the regular garbage, but is this sufficient? in a perfect world obviously not. 

 

In 10 years time when everyone is wearing these masks they will be the ’new environmental evil’ much like straws are today !!!

 

 

 

 

[Shadychris]

"No unprotected contact with live wild or farm animals"

 

I'll be fine then - I always practice safe sex.

[ChipButty]

3 hours ago, Iron Tongue said:

So are bargirls wearing face masks?

Most need too

[SoonOh]

Must Have mask 

 

 

[Don Mega]

1 hour ago, Tony125 said:

The N95 is the most protective but the regular 2.5 masks offer some protection and are better than nothing. They can protect those with a virous from spreading it by  coughing/snezzing. Also if someone coughs the droplets are not landing directly in your nasil passages mouth. Sure not 100 percent effective as hazmat suit but be real we can't walk around like that so offers some protection. Persons are advised to wash hands frequently , use alcohol/germacide hand sprays , stay away from infected  people, eat healthy, get rest to keep immune system strong.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2231535-can-an-n95-face-mask-protect-you-from-catching-the-new-coronavirus/

 

 

So what your saying is No, there is not a mask that is effective...

[GroveHillWanderer]

Came across another interesting paper on PubMed. It references a review in the British Medical Journal of the findings of nine trials of facemasks in community settings. In all but one trial, the facemasks were used for respiratory protection of well people. The overall conclusion was that:

 

Quote

"... facemasks and facemasks plus hand hygiene may prevent infection in community settings, subject to early use and compliance."

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25858901
 

So far, I have not been able to find any clinical trial or study that seems to support the conclusion that "face masks are useless."

Edited January 30, 2020 by GroveHillWanderer

[ThaiBunny]

8 minutes ago, GroveHillWanderer said:

facemasks plus hand hygiene may prevent infection in community settings, subject to early use and compliance

I think you can drive the proverbial truck through those qualifications

[GroveHillWanderer]

6 minutes ago, ThaiBunny said:

I think you can drive the proverbial truck through those qualifications

Very possibly, but it's a review of the findings of nine different studies - they're never going to come up with a more definitive one-line summary than that. 

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post (possibly on another thread) another comparison of just three studies found a reduction of viral infections in the range of 70% - 80% when the subjects wore face masks and practiced good hand hygiene.

 

I have looked for and didn't find (as yet) any study concluding that facemasks are totally ineffective.

 

What's interesting is that before I started to look for published studies on this topic, I had formed a personal opinion that face masks probably didn't do much good at all. I was actually surprised to find evidence that the contrary seems to be true - although once again, only when combined with frequent hand washing. 

[Youlike]

On 1/28/2020 at 6:29 PM, KimSamui said:

My Doctor yesterday told me to wear a mask, so I will follow his advice.

In the malls the staff doesn't wear masks...even not in the bakeries and the bread is still laying in the open air...if one sneezes ALL the bread is contaminated.

[Misab]

On 1/28/2020 at 5:27 PM, spiekerjozef said:

What's a mask gonna do?

If someone with a flu influenza etc. if they sneeze, a mask will protect you.

[richard_smith237]

7 minutes ago, Misab said:

On 1/28/2020 at 5:27 PM, spiekerjozef said:

What's a mask gonna do?

If someone with a flu influenza etc. if they sneeze, a mask will protect you.

.... To some extent. 

 

IF someone with influenza sneezed and they were wearing the mask that would offer most protection. 

Plenty of the virus would still become airborne with the virion attached to aerosol, depending on aerosol size some of this may still be breathed in through the N95 mask.

An additional facet of the mask is the limitation of hand to mouth contact. 

 

Thus, masks will not provide absolute protection, but like frequently washing hands and using antiseptic hand gels etc they are an effective measure in cutting down probability. 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2020 by richard_smith237

[Selatan]

7 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Why take a chance? Who can trust the Thai authorities, and what they say? Why trust them? What have they done to earn that trust? And how many flights from China, are still coming into Thailand daily? That is a scary thought. I like the Chinese people, but do not want to be anywhere near them right now! My guess is that most of the world's people feel the same way, at this moment. 

Yes, it's perfectly logical to be afraid of Chinese tourists at the moment, but this is just temporary thing. Once local infections take hold, we would become fearful of everyone. China might even ban flights from countries which couldn't control their local infections from spreading.