Temporary sub-forum for all news, updates, developments and discussion on Coronavirus/Covid-19 in Hua Hin, Thailand and globally. Any and all topics on the outbreak will be moved into this forum for ease of information access.
No surprises, but straight from the Thai News Reports site:
It’s official, the partial lockdown and curfew has been extended to 31st August when it will be reviewed again. The restrictions put in place two weeks ago will continue as before. The only difference is that the banks in malls can now open.
More shady deals ordering more questionable medical supplies from China ... wonder who got the commission on this one.
Chinese test kits get green light
The Public Health Ministry on Monday gave the green light to the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) to buy 8.5 million antigen test kit (ATK) sets from Lepu Medical Technology, following the completion of the bidding to import the product.
Deputy permanent secretary for public health Sura Visetsak said the GPO can now go ahead and sign a procurement contract with Ostland Capital, the bid winner, as tests had confirmed that the kits were of an acceptable standard.
Dr Sura said the procurement process met with all necessary legal requirements and there were no foreseeable hiccups with the GPO moving to the next stage.
"The quality of the product has been confirmed by all the necessary agencies, and there would have to be a good reason to cancel the deal now.
nil wrote:Dr. Tess Lawrie is a world-class researcher and consultant to the World Health Organisation. Her biggest clients happen to be those who are involved in the suppression of repurposed drugs. She has decided to speak out in protest against the current medical establishment at considerable personal risk.
That FDA article actually only says Ivermectin is dangerous if taken in large doses or if you are taking medicines where there is a known adverse drug interaction with it. It also says you shouldn't use Ivermectin that is being sold for animals only and that it's possible to overdose on Ivermectin.
All very true and sensible but the fact remains that over 4 billion doses of Ivermectin have been consumed in the decades since it was discovered and it has an incredibly good safety record (when taken at the recommended dosage, of course).
The problem with Ivermectin as far as I can tell, is that there doesn't seem to be quite enough good evidence of its efficacy yet. I had earlier thought otherwise, partly because of the meta-analyses done by Dr Tess Lawrie (and others) but it now turns out that one of the main studies included in these meta-analyses was seriously flawed and has been withdrawn. Without this study included, the data apparently no longer supports a finding in favour of Ivermectin.
I should also point out that according to the article linked to above:
"There are multiple ongoing phase III randomized controlled trials that will likely provide more definitive results on ivermectin, including Boulware's study and the U.K.'s PRINCIPLE outpatient trial that is aiming to enroll about 1,500 patients in its ivermectin arm."
So we should hopefully have some good data soon, on which to base a conclusion.
