Covid-19 News & Updates (Thailand and Southeast Asia only)

[Stargeezer]

I should add, that I left Bangkok March 14th at 5PM. It took longer to get through to the gate at
Bangkok, Taipei and Vancouver especially at Vancouver, as I had to change airlines, the baggage transfer in
Vancouver took nearly an hour, very inefficient system.
Geezer

[HHTel]

I think it's been said many times by various medical experts, that handwashing is the key and that masks are pretty useless in protecting against the virus although it may deter you touching your face.
These masks are designed to stop someone already ill from passing it on. Most of the advice has been to stop buying these masks unless you are ill and so that medical staff have easier access to these masks.

Having said that, it's now known that you can have this virus without symptoms. That being the case, it's probably adviseable to wear them when you're in close proximity to others to prevent you from infecting others should you be infected yourself without knowing.

On the death toll:

Out of 6,500 deaths, half are now outside of China and more than a third are in Europe.

[HHTel]

I know there are plenty of these type of videos but here is one more from the UK:

[Big Boy]

Thailand saw a steep jump in the number of new coronavirus cases, with 32 testing positive for Covid-19 over the weekend, most of them contracting the virus after visiting a pub and a boxing stadium.

A timely warning before tomorrow's St Patrick's celebrations. Please be careful guys. Some bars will be heaving.

[HHTel]

It should be noted that Ireland are closing all bars. No St. Patrick celebrations there!

All pubs and bars in the Republic of Ireland are going to be closed for two weeks from midnight on Sunday in a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The closures come ahead of St Patrick's Day on Tuesday, which is one of the busiest days in the year for these establishments, especially in tourist-heavy locations such as Dublin.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus- ... y-11958078

[HHTel]

My daughter is an 'actress' in the Cicada Show. She tells me this morning that last night was the last performance as Cicada is now closed for the foreseeable future. So she loses her income from that.

What's the betting that places like Kun Pho's is the next to close.

[sateeb]

Italy is getting hammered by this virus, it has the highest infection rate of 409 per million of the population and second only to China in total deaths.

I googled why and saw this article in The Sun (yes I Know!!)

Why has Italy been hit so hard by coronavirus?
Coronavirus spread rapidly in Italy because the first person who was infected in the country was in the asymptomatic phase - meaning they showed no symptons and could spread the virus undetected.

Massimo Galli, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Milan and director of infectious diseases at the Luigi Sacco hospital in Milan, said evidence suggested the virus may have been spreading under the radar in the quarantined areas.

"Italy should be a warning to everybody, everywhere," he said.

"We have an epidemic because of one person who returned with an infection in an asymptomatic phase and it spread underground in the 'red zone’."
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11132662/ ... ronavirus/

[oakdale160]

Deaths from Corona. Compared to what?
Italy is a good study. Population 60 million. Mortality rate in normal times 1.1%/ year. This works out at 1800 deaths per day. This is the number to keep in mind when looking at Corona Mortality figures--Yesterday there were 250 Corona deaths. or 14% of that of a normal day, and its going to go much higher for sure.

[HHTel]

You cannot compare the mortality rate of a disease with deaths from natural causes. That's silly. Neither can you compare it with seasonal 'flu where currently more people die annually but is still around 0.1%. Even if the deaths from coronavirus is as low as 1%, that is still ten times more deadly than 'flu.

If you want to state natural deaths then you have to factor in births.

[sateeb]

“Globally, about 3.4% of reported COVID-19 cases have died. By comparison, seasonal flu generally kills far fewer than 1% of those infected.” [13]

Initial estimate was 2%

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavir ... eath-rate/

[Big Boy]

She tells me this morning that last night was the last performance as Cicada is now closed for the foreseeable future.

Is that the whole of Cicada or just the show closing down? If the whole of Cicada, that is huge in the number of Bangkokians it draws each weekend.

[HHTel]

She says it's the whole of Cicada and they were only told last night during the show. She may be wrong and it could be just the show. However, if the show is closed because of crowding then it's reasonable to assume that the whole would be closed. The show is just one relatively small part of the whole.

[PeteC]

Bloomberg Worldwide Report (March 16)

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/18 ... rus-update

[HHTel]

Re my earlier post of my daughters visit at the beginning of May, EVA have cancelled flights to Thailand so at least she'll get a refund from the airline.

[fft100]

Checking the Eva mobile app, flights in May on 5 or 6 days a week are being sold to the UK. The next few weeks from now are very different, with a cutback to only 2 or 3 flights a week to the UK and far higher prices. Hope there app is not selling tickets for non-existent flights...