Thailand reports 2,044 new coronavirus cases, 27 new deaths

[webfact]

 

Buddhist monks look as rescue workers put a coffin containing a body of a person who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) into a crematorium chamber at a temple in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

(Reuters) - Thailand on Friday reported 27 new coronavirus deaths, matching its second-highest daily rise in fatalities, as the country grapples with a third wave of infections.

 

The Southeast Asian country also reported 2,044 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 78,855 since the pandemic began last year.

 

The total number of deaths now stands at 363.

 

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat Editing by Ed Davies)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-05-07

 

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[ThailandRyan]

A very tenous issue Covid has become.  Life without knowing, because of no mass testing, yet the numbers hover in the 2k area and continue in line with double digit deaths.  

[Bkk Brian]

Worrying no let up with this wave spreading fast in Bangkok.

 

New cluster 160 cases found in Bang Kae after Covid-19 tests at a department store in Bang Kae. from B.P.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Update - In stinging bad news delivered Friday, Thailand reported another rise in COVID patients hospitalized in critical condition, reaching a pandemic record 1,170 cases. At the same time, the share of those patients requiring respirators to breathe also rose to set a pandemic record for Thailand at 367 patients. Both figures have been rising almost daily for the past month, even as daily new COVID case numbers have fluctuated below prior peaks.

 

With the 2,044 new COVID cases reported Friday, Thailand's daily COVID case count continued to bounce just above or below the 2,000 mark as it has daily for the past week. Total cases have now reached 78,855.

 

Meanwhile, new COVID deaths continued at an elevated pace, with Friday's 27 new fatalities tying the country's second highest number ever, previously reached on May 4, and eclipsed only by the 31 reported on May 3. Total deaths now stand at 363.

 

Thai government officials are bracing for potentially much higher daily COVID case counts in the days ahead, as the government this week began expanding its outreach COVID testing to tackle an outbreak of the virus in various low-income areas of Bangkok.

 

In one good sign on Friday, though, the number of COVID patients released from various kinds of hospital facilities, 2,377 reported Friday, exceeded the number of new cases for the day, which has been a rare occurrence lately. As result, total COVID hospitalizations, including many with few to no symptoms in makeshift field hospitals, dropped from 29,680 to 29,320 for the past day.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/320483742903290/

 

The chart below reflects Thailand's COVID statistics for the current "third wave" outlet that began at the start of April -- during that period, 49,992 cases and 269 of the total 363 deaths.

 

https://www.facebook.com/informationcovid19/photos/a.106455480972785/320483746236623/

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Charting of Thailand rolling seven-day average of new COVID cases -- a key indicator used by health authorities to track COVID case trends -- shows the new daily case numbers continuing to moderate and remain below prior highs at almost 1,886.

 

The data by the same website, Our World in Data, updated through May 5, also shows the seven-day trend of COVID deaths in Thailand having made a steep rise since the middle of April, but just lately beginning to level off at 20.

 

 

 

https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus/country/thailand?country=~THA#what-is-the-daily-number-of-confirmed-cases

Edited May 7, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Blumpie]

Now people are saying "oh, it's steady at 2k per day, great!".  

This isn't great.  

[dinsdale]

Get >2000 with low mass testing (argue against this if you will) and the infections rate MUST be higher. BKK alone should be doing 10,000+ tests a day. Test more, find more. This is one way to stop clusters early.

Edited May 7, 2021 by dinsdale

[anchadian]

10 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Worrying no let up with this wave spreading fast in Bangkok.

 

New cluster 160 cases found in Bang Kae after Covid-19 tests at a department store in Bang Kae. from B.P.

Yes, very close to me.

Stay safe all.

[anchadian]

Thai PBS World

 

@ThaiPBSWorld

 

https://twitter.com/ThaiPBSWorld/status/1390484150319079427

 

27 more #COVID19 deaths and 2,044 new infections recorded in #Thailand today, raising the cumulative total to 78,855. #ThaiPBSWorld #ThailandNews #ThailandUpdate

 

[Brunolem]

With a population of around 10 million for greater Bangkok, out of which probably 30 to 50% is already infected (and mostly asymptomatic), it will take years to test everyone at a rate of 10,000 per day.

 

One might thus expect the actual numbers of cases and deaths to keep coming up every day until year end and beyond.

 

Which makes one wonder:

 

How is it possible for a country that can test only a few thousands persons per day, to vaccinate 300,000 persons per day, starting next month?

 

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by Brunolem

[Danderman123]

Lack of growth in infections means that the positivity rate is not increasing, assuming the overall number of tests per day is more or less constant.  That is good news.

 

The question is how to stop this wave if the positivity rate is not declining.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

New and later daily English language COVID briefing schedule from the government. Starting time of 1 p.m. daily or shortly thereafter, versus the prior time that had been around noon.

 

https://www.facebook.com/thailandprd/posts/4234620943227954

Edited May 7, 2021 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[FarFlungFalang]

.Slight exponential decline in cases numbers and a slight exponential increase in deaths and now we have phasing issues with the sine waves of deaths and cases and testing being out of whack and causing positivity to spike which maybe indicating a possible temporary exponential increase in the out of control vector numbers.

Edited May 7, 2021 by onthedarkside
personal comment removed

[dinsdale]

23 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

With a population of around 10 million for greater Bangkok, out of which probably 30 to 50% is already infected (and mostly asymptomatic), it will take years to test everyone at a rate of 10,000 per day.

 

One might thus expect the actual numbers of cases and deaths to keep coming up every day until year end and beyond.

 

Needless to say that the country's economy will not survive that long...

 

 

About 3 yrs but that's not the point. The point is the more you test the more you find and by doing this you try to cut down transmission rate. The hard medicine is that without this, along with lockdowns this will continue and as such continue to harm the economy. Should really have had a hard lockdown as soon as the Thong Lor cluster and spread was discovered. 

Edited May 7, 2021 by dinsdale

[Moonlover]

10 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

With a population of around 10 million for greater Bangkok, out of which probably 30 to 50% is already infected (and mostly asymptomatic), it will take years to test everyone at a rate of 10,000 per day.

 

One might thus expect the actual numbers of cases and deaths to keep coming up every day until year end and beyond.

 

Needless to say that the country's economy will not survive that long...

 

 

There's a mix of optimism and pessimism in your post. If your supposition that 30 to 50% of the population have already been infected is true, then there's a good chance that with some concentrated effort in the vaccination programme, Bangkok and its environs will soon reach herd immunity.

 

That will be good for the whole country of course and there will be no need to go testing the entire population of the city, which they won't do anyway. They have never done mass testing, it wastes recourses for very little return.

 

So I think this wave will be over sooner than you think and the economy will survive.

[ThailandRyan]

9 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Lack of growth in infections means that the positivity rate is not increasing, assuming the overall number of tests per day is more or less constant.  That is good news.

 

The question is how to stop this wave if the positivity rate is not declining.

So you believe by testing in the same pot that it somehow equivalates to the rest of the Areas around those tested and the positivity rate is not increasing.  Well then If we use your logic, then the cases must be very large in those other areas as well since no testing is being done in them thar locations yet. 

[jonclark]

21 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

With a population of around 10 million for greater Bangkok, out of which probably 30 to 50% is already infected (and mostly asymptomatic), it will take years to test everyone at a rate of 10,000 per day.

 

One might thus expect the actual numbers of cases and deaths to keep coming up every day until year end and beyond.

 

Which makes one wonder:

 

How is it possible for a country that can test only a few thousands persons per day, to vaccinate 300,000 persons per day, starting next month?

 

 

You make a good point in your last sentence - But i think that the testing limits (and i am not going down the pathway of baseless government conspiracies to limit testing) is due to limited lab space and facilities, whereas vaccinations and vaccine storage is a much simpler process - jabbing someone with a needle is easier than lab testing swabs - That would be my guess. 

 

I do feel that 300'000 a day consitantly  maybe a bit optimistic - as vaccine production has yet to start - but I am always the optimist. 

[Bkk Brian]

Pretty obvious they are struggling to contain this, with numbers this high its playing catch up all the time, contain one cluster only to fight another and another and this logically leads to further spread until its completely ravaged Bangkok and into Provinces.

 

Not sure how many rapid tests are being used, nobody does apart from them but like the Samut Sakhon outbreak and locking up the migrants, we just never got hear hear of the true positive count, it was all hidden. I suspect this may be happening right now in the slum communities, straight into quarantine or field hospital with no official count for a proportion of them.

 

The huge field hospitals now being erected in Bangkok with ICU facilities would be a perfect place for the serious victims from the slums and migrants. Out of sight, out of mind for the officials.

 

The only way to have any hope to curb this is mass testing, not Thailand's version of mass testing but real mass testing. Identify the true scale of the problem so you know what you have to do. In the meantime there should be no other alternative than to have a complete lockdown to act as a circuit breaker, even if only for a couple of weeks.

[ThailandRyan]

5 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There's a mix of optimism and pessimism in your post. If your supposition that 30 to 50% of the population have already been infected is true, then there's a good chance that with some concentrated effort in the vaccination programme, Bangkok and its environs will soon reach herd immunity.

 

That will be good for the whole country of course and there will be no need to go testing the entire population of the city, which they won't do anyway. They have never done mass testing, it wastes recourses for very little return.

 

So I think this wave will be over sooner than you think and the economy will survive.

Heard immunity is an unknown in every aspect of this virus and the disease it causes.  I do not believe you can achieve heard immunity for several years as this virus continues onward mutating and until vaccines can be tested on all variants found in a controlled laboratory area.  Just like the Flu vaccine they have different variations of it for the different areas and types of flu that are found in those locations.  One day it may be found that This vaccine works against Covid better here, and then this vaccine is better over there.  Science is still far behind on understanding this critter in its entirety as it is still Novel.

[Excel]

Well we will soon have the brain dead on here claiming it has flat lined (again) and it has peaked (again). Also the government apologists will pop out of the woodwork claiming they are doing a good job.  Well we all know exactly what it is they are doing a good job of and for whom and it is certainly nothing do to do with proactive random testing as it is not happening nationally. And only selectively where cases have already occurred as a reactive case in those hot spots which perhaps could have been mitigated by appropriate government actions previously.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Excel

[dinsdale]

3 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There's a mix of optimism and pessimism in your post. If your supposition that 30 to 50% of the population have already been infected is true, then there's a good chance that with some concentrated effort in the vaccination programme, Bangkok and its environs will soon reach herd immunity.

 

That will be good for the whole country of course and there will be no need to go testing the entire population of the city, which they won't do anyway. They have never done mass testing, it wastes recourses for very little return.

 

So I think this wave will be over sooner than you think and the economy will survive.

10 soon becomes 100 which soon becomes 1000 which soon becomes 2000. If mass testing catches the original ten, quarantines, contact tracing and targeted lockdowns can slow or stop the spread. This is what mass testing can achieve not waiting for people to present at hospital when it's too late. They more than likely have already spread the disease.

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There's a mix of optimism and pessimism in your post. If your supposition that 30 to 50% of the population have already been infected is true, then there's a good chance that with some concentrated effort in the vaccination programme, Bangkok and its environs will soon reach herd immunity.

.......and yet there is no evidence, whatsoever that this 30% to 50% infection rate is the case.

 

The current mode of testing gives a very distorted view of what might be the nationwide situation.

 

Testing tends to be targeted, which, as consequence of being targeted, gives high numbers initially, but action reduces infections and testing of the same cohort then leads to stable or declining numbers of infections.

 

I am not aware of any nationwide, random, mass testing which gives a 'true' picture if what is really happening to infection rates.

 

The only vaguely reliable data is excess deaths which can lag infections by up to a month.

 

[ChipButty]

According to my friend this morning who lives in BKK they are testing everybody in her area at the moment which is just off Wireless Road, lets see what happens later

[Bkk Brian]

10 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There's a mix of optimism and pessimism in your post. If your supposition that 30 to 50% of the population have already been infected is true, then there's a good chance that with some concentrated effort in the vaccination programme, Bangkok and its environs will soon reach herd immunity.

 

That will be good for the whole country of course and there will be no need to go testing the entire population of the city, which they won't do anyway. They have never done mass testing, it wastes recourses for very little return.

 

So I think this wave will be over sooner than you think and the economy will survive.

However we already know that natural heard immunity in small propotions of the population  did nothing for the likes of the UK, Europe and US. It had minimal impact, the only successful strategy with the UK variant in the UK was mass testing, lockdowns and vaccinations, they are doing neither here.

[Surelynot]

10 minutes ago, Excel said:

Well we will soon have the brain dead on here claiming it has flat lined (again) and it has peaked (again). Also the government apologists will pop out of the woodwork claiming they are doing a good job.  Well we all know exactly what it is they are doing a good job of and for whom and it is certainly nothing do to do with proactive random testing as it is not happening nationally. And only selectively where cases have already occurred as a reactive case in those hot spots which perhaps could have been mitigated by appropriate government actions previously.

Wack-a-mole plays well with the Thai public I imagine.....looks like the government and at least trying.

 

Sad that it simply won't work.......it is like lockdowns......essential only due to the absence of a vaccine.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Surelynot

[Patong2021]

4 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There's a mix of optimism and pessimism in your post. If your supposition that 30 to 50% of the population have already been infected is true, then there's a good chance that with some concentrated effort in the vaccination programme, Bangkok and its environs will soon reach herd immunity.

 

That will be good for the whole country of course and there will be no need to go testing the entire population of the city, which they won't do anyway. They have never done mass testing, it wastes recourses for very little return.

 

So I think this wave will be over sooner than you think and the economy will survive.

 

Your herd immunity belief is being disproven in India.

 

 

[PGSan]

24 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

the positivity rate

What is this, please? 

[FarFlungFalang]

5 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

Science is still far behind on understanding this critter in its entirety as it is still Novel.

I thinks it's going from Novel to epic trilogy saga mini series complete with reruns and the suspense is killing me!

[Surelynot]

3 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Your herd immunity belief is being disproven in India.

 

 

How is that the case?

[Surelynot]

2 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

 the suspense is killing me!

...better that than the virus!