Covid-19 News & Updates

[PeteC]

^ They are now in the process of tracking 326 people the woman came in contact with.

[PET]

The lady in Chang Mai is reported to have had contact with 326 persons!!

[Big Boy]

Hmmm..... I wonder how many persons the 326 have been in contact with,

[HHTel]

No answer yet on why she wasn't in quarantine. That's what's saved this country so far.
Someone, somewhere has to take responsibility for this.

[migrant]

BKK Post said she was in a mall. Hmmm, able to avoid quarantine and shopping, wonder what social class she belongs to??

[PET]

The wife says she came across the border by minibus she also frequents bars

[PeteC]

Here's the full story so far about what they're doing and where this woman was. So many people now will be locked up for 14 days in quarantine and not earning. The woman, or better still, the negligent authorities should be libel for their lost income.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ai-patient

[GroveHillWanderer]

Oxford have appointed Thailand with manufacture and distribution to the whole of ASEAN so it's not going to stop after the first batch.

Exactly - that's more or less the point I was trying to make. Some people were reacting as if the 26 million doses they've announced so far would be the sum total of everything they would ever produce, whereas I would say it's more likely to be just the beginning.

[Big Boy]

Central Pattana Plc, the mall operator, said those who had been in contact with the woman while she was in the mall had been contacted by authorities and would proceed to a 14-day quarantine in line with protocols.

I wonder how many smart arsed Adolf Hitlers and Mickey Mouses who also gave false phone numbers are sat at home wondering why they haven't been contacted. Or does Covid differentiate, and avoid smart arses?

On Nov 24, she still had a fever, and developed a cough and a headache. Around 5am on that day, she travelled from Myanmar to Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai by public van.

And there was me thinking borders were closed. Mini buses are obviously exempt.

[PeteC]

Knock on wood that this woman doesn't cause a serious situation. It has been small things like this in South Korea and elsewhere where an entire city needed to be locked down, not to mention the danger of people flying from the area back to Bangkok and elsewhere here.

In the worst case situation we could find ourselves back to where we were last Spring concerning closures, lockdowns and all the rest.

[Big Boy]

The fact there is a public van service from Myanmar to Thailand has really opened my eyes, to the point I find it very hard to comprehend. How many others are using the same service?

[PeteC]

Infected woman has DDC startled

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... c-startled

A shopping mall and a bar in Chiang Mai have been closed while anxious officials test more than 300 people for Covid-19.

The urgent action follows the revelation that a 29-year-old Thai woman caught the virus in Myanmar and despite going down with a fever, returned to Thailand and visited several places before finally going to hospital and testing positive for the coronavirus. She was able to do so without entering quarantine, which has alarmed the authorities.

The Department of Disease Control (DDC) said it will take two weeks to establish whether the woman is a super-spreader after it discovered that she came into contact with at least 326 people. The DDC added that strong legal action must be applied in this case after finding that she was not in the quarantine system.

Opas Kankawinpong, acting chief of the DDC, said on Saturday the timeline of the woman's movements was quite clear: she was infected while in Myanmar from Oct 24 to Nov 23, when she began to develop a fever and diarrhoea.

The DDC's Chiang Mai provincial committee says the woman entered the country illegally on Nov 24 through a natural border in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district and took a public bus the same day to her condo in Chiang Mai.

Later she met her friends at a pub in the Santitham area, and also went shopping at CentralFestival Chiang Mai, even while suffering from the fever.

CCTV camera footage shows she wore a face mask at least some of the time she was in public areas.

"My big question is why she didn't attend the quarantine system. All returnees must enter the 14-day quarantine with no exception," said Dr Opas.

"Illegally entering Thailand carries a heavy punishment. It will be necessary to apply all immigration and public health laws in this case. It is dangerous to the community and the country. We need all stakeholders to prevent it."

Dr Opas also urged people to contact authorities immediately if they knew of anyone who was breaking the laws in this regard. The infected woman was tested for the virus on Nov 26 and admitted to Nakornping Hospital, Chiang Mai.

According to the DDC, she was admitted suffering from a fever and had lost her sense of smell, a common symptom found in Covid-19 patients.

A disease investigation team found that 105 people are at high risk of contracting the virus from the woman, including friends that shared a cigarette with her, 40 bus passengers, 55 bar staff and six people from the department store.

A further 140 people are regarded as being at low risk: 138 from department stores, two from the pub, nine medical staff and 72 around the community.

Sophon Iamsirithavorn, director of the Division of Communicable Diseases, said the investigative team had since Thursday contacted those people at highest risk and put them under 14-day surveillance. He suggested anyone who thinks she came into contact with her should be alert for any sign of a fever or be tested for the virus at a nearby hospital.

CentralFestival Chiangmai closed for a major cleaning operation on Saturday and will reopen today.

Meanwhile, the Chiang Mai Municipality on Saturday sprayed chemicals into pubs along the Santitham area to kill the virus and ordered them to shut for a while. Chiang Rai governor Prajol Pratsakul said he had made contact with various agencies to prevent illegal entry along the border but does not yet know how the woman sneaked into the country.

[Big Boy]

does not yet know how the woman sneaked into the country.

Der............You've got a public bus service running from Myanmar to Thailand. She doesn't seem to be making a secret of it.

[PeteC]

Yes. At present there are conflicting reports: 1) Van from Burma to Chiang Rai. 2) She walked (snuck) into Thailand from Burma through a natural crossing.

Either way, the lack of control and surveillance is an embarrassment.

[Big Boy]

I haven't seen '2' reported.