Covid-19 News & Updates

[Big Boy]

Is this something new Pete? I agree that the satellite Post Offices with not accept regular international mail, but we've sent about a dozen parcels to the UK since international mail was restored, post Covid. Not one has been EMS, and they've all arrived safely. We were initially directed to the main Post Office by the airport, and apart from them not knowing where Wales is, we have not had a problem.

[PeteC]

All I can say is this is what the post office in Rayong told us yesterday in regards to what we were sending and I assume (probably dangerous) that it was Thai post office policy. We had no reason to ask about box parcels. I've edited the original post to state "letter size mail".

[hhinner]

Mail services as at August 17:

[PeteC]

Is anyone keeping track as to where we are with Covid deaths pandemic to date, which I guess let's say started February 1, compared to normal flu deaths historically during the same period in previous years?

We should definitely look at that number on the 1 year anniversary.

[HHTel]

With regards 'flu, there's a drastic reduction in cases in the Southern hemisphere because of because of protective procedures. New Zealand for example are reporting a 90% decline of 'flu cases over the same period last year. The US and Europe are not achieving the same declines as 'mask wearing' and 'social distancing' were not taken as seriously as here.

Flu in the Southern Hemisphere has 'practically disappeared.' What does that mean for America's flu season?

Countries in the Southern Hemisphere are reporting lower numbers of flu cases this year compared with previous years—and health officials are attributing the decline to widespread coronavirus restrictions such as mask wearing, travel restrictions, and social distancing.

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing ... strictions

[Big Boy]

hhinner's chart seem to confirm what we're both saying as correct. Available to UK, but air letter not available to US.

[PeteC]

hhinner's chart seem to confirm what we're both saying as correct. Available to UK, but air letter not available to US.

Yes, I spotted that scrolling down to the English language section. So, the Post Office was right this time around.

[handdrummer]

Just heard on Thai news, that tourists from Perth, AU, are now welcome to visit Phuket. BUT-------------
They have to spend 14 days in quarantine.

Why would anyone want to spend all that money and be locked in a hotel room for 2 weeks of their vacation?

[Lost]

Just heard on Thai news, that tourists from Perth, AU, are now welcome to visit Phuket. BUT-------------
They have to spend 14 days in quarantine.

Why would anyone want to spend all that money and be locked in a hotel room for 2 weeks of their vacation?

It's for the 3 monthers +. Which there are many. If I could get away at the minute, I'd quite happily spend a couple of weeks in a nice hotel in Thailand b4 my further 10 weeks (or more).

Not such a daft idea while keeping strict covid measures (on the off chance that it might actually be quite serious).

[Lost]

^

Just to add to above. Remember Thailand (if data is to be believed) never had a first wave of the virus. This I think, at this far down the line, is not a good thing. Not at all. The new, more viral, mutated form of the virus could wreak havoc with a population not yet introduced to the weaker strains of Yore.

Think Thailand is right to be careful, honestly.

[HHTel]

They did have a 'first wave'. Maybe the numbers weren't so high as other countries but there was certainly a rise and a fall.
It started on March 10th with just 3 cases, rising to 30+ per day by the 15th then peaked at 188 daily cases by the 22nd. The curve was 'flattened' and brought down to 111 by April 8th then a steady reduction and by May 4th, it was down to 18 on the day. The last local infection was May 25th and since then all cases discovered have been in quarantine. (95 days)

[Lost]

They did have a 'first wave'. Maybe the numbers weren't so high as other countries but there was certainly a rise and a fall.
It started on March 10th with just 3 cases, rising to 30+ per day by the 15th then peaked at 188 daily cases by the 22nd. The curve was 'flattened' and brought down to 111 by April 8th then a steady reduction and by May 4th, it was down to 18 on the day. The last local infection was May 25th and since then all cases discovered have been in quarantine. (95 days)

In the Western world we call that a blip not a wave.

[HHTel]

It's all relative. If Thailand hadn't shut down in the 3rd week of March when cases were 100+ per day, it would surely have been a lot worse.
Nipped in the bud before it became a major problem. Absolutely the right thing to do.

[handdrummer]

Just heard on Thai news, that tourists from Perth, AU, are now welcome to visit Phuket. BUT-------------
They have to spend 14 days in quarantine.

Why would anyone want to spend all that money and be locked in a hotel room for 2 weeks of their vacation?

It's for the 3 monthers +. Which there are many. If I could get away at the minute, I'd quite happily spend a couple of weeks in a nice hotel in Thailand b4 my further 10 weeks (or more).

Not such a daft idea while keeping strict covid measures (on the off chance that it might actually be quite serious).

Are you referencing retired people or teachers on vacation, I don't think that most employees have 3 months of holidays. I can't speak for anyone else but, I wouldn't want to spend 14 days locked in a hotel room.

[PeteC]

Lost's signature comes to mind: I don't trust children. They're here to replace us.

Coronavirus: Children's role in spread puzzles scientists

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53946420

Children can carry coronavirus in their noses for up to three weeks, according to a study from South Korea.

Earlier studies have found the vast majority of children with the virus have mild or no symptoms.

But these findings shed light on the unresolved question of how likely children are to spread the virus to others.

The study emphasises the continuing role of social distancing and good hygiene as children go back to school.

The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Prof Russell Viner explains there are three separate, but linked questions about children and Covid-19:

Do children get the virus?

How severely do they get the virus?

Do they pass it on to others?

While we know for sure that children can catch the virus, Prof Viner says data from antibody blood tests suggest they may be less susceptible to catching it than adults - particularly children under the age of 12.

And scientists are very confident that children are less likely to become ill than adults even if they do catch it, with many not showing any symptoms at all. That's what the British study, published on Friday, confirms.

The third question is the one we know least about, and it's this the South Korean study attempts to address.

What does the South Korean study say?
The study, based on 91 children, found that even among those with few or no symptoms, virus could be found in their swabs as much as three weeks later.

The fact they had detectable virus in their noses, the authors concluded, suggested they were capable of passing it on.

Because of the way South Korea tested, traced and isolated cases, even those without symptoms, it is uniquely placed to look at this group.

Once they had identified and isolated cases, the patients were repeatedly tested until the virus had cleared.

The study was therefore able to give us some new information about children as carriers of the virus, and their potential capacity to be spreading it onwards.

Like other studies, though, it still leaves a missing piece of the puzzle.

Just because virus is found in a child's nose does not definitively prove they are transmitting it at the same rate as adults.

Dr Roberta DeBiasi, chief of the paediatric diseases division at the Children's National Hospital in Washington DC, said it would be "illogical to think children have no role in transmission" given they do carry the virus.

But professor of child health at the University of Liverpool, Prof Calum Semple said: "The presence of the virus genetic material in swabs in the respiratory tract need not equate with transmission, particularly in people who do not have important symptoms such as cough and sneeze."

So can we draw a conclusion?
Logic dictates that in both children and adults, people with no or few symptoms - who aren't coughing and projecting the virus into the air - are likely to be less infectious, and children generally get milder cases of the disease.

But significant numbers of asymptomatic people could still have a noticeable effect on the infection rate.

And, as Prof Viner points out, keeping schools closed is not neutral either but poses its own set of risks - to children's development, education and mental health.

While the exact risk children pose remains an open question for the moment, answering it will be vital to controlling future outbreaks.

Dr DeBiasi believes that while the "vast majority of infected children have mild or unrecognised disease," they may play an "important" role in enabling the spread of infection through communities.