Public Health Ministry bemoans rising mounds of infectious waste
The country’s waste disposal sites are groaning under 1,500 tonnes of infectious waste, which is likely to grow significantly given the rising number of Covid-19 patients, Deputy Public Health Minister Satit Pitutecha said on Thursday.
He added that though Thailand’s five waste disposal sites are working on the 1,500 tonnes of infectious waste collected since August 20, more disposal sites are required to deal with the garbage.
“The Public Health Ministry has announced the need for more disposal channels. The new channels should be able to incinerate infectious waste at more than 700 degrees Celsius and should be able to create temperatures high enough to destroy the resulting pollution. Workers will also have to be provided with proper protection gear to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“Industrial waste disposal plants and community power plants can lend a hand,” Satit said.
South hotels to woo domestic tourists with premium packages
Hotel operators in the South are launching premium packages this month to attract domestic tourists looking to visit Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga and Surat Thani.
The campaign follows relaxation of Covid-19 measures in the four tourist provinces under the government’s Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus programme.
Surachat Iawsakul, a director of Thai Hotels Association (Southern Chapter), said on Thursday that the campaign aims to provide a premium travel experience from luxurious hotels and restaurants as well as marine activities, such as diving and sailing, at reasonable prices.
“Before the pandemic, luxury hotels sold room packages at around Bt5,000 to Bt10,000 per night. Now the prices have dropped to around Bt2,000 per night, which should attract wider groups of customers who want a premium travel experience,” he said. “Customers can reserve a package this month and choose their visiting period to fit their schedule from late September until the end of the first quarter of 2022.
“We estimated that throughout the campaign more than Bt5 million revenue will be generated from room packages alone,” he added.
The association also estimated that more Thai tourists would visit the southern provinces during the high season, or from November onwards, if daily Covid infections continued to decline, which would lead to further easing of travel restrictions nationwide.
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Surachat added that after over two months of the Phuket “sandbox” progamme, the tourism industry in the province was gradually improving though the number of foreign visitors were not as high as the association had hoped.
“As of September 17 — the 76th day of the campaign — around 32,000 foreign tourists have entered Phuket,” he said. “However, looking back, when the Covid-19 outbreak started to escalate in July 2020, more than 90 per cent of about 2,500 hotels in Phuket had to shut their doors. In June this year, about 300 hotels in Phuket, or 12 per cent, were still open with approximately 15,000 total rooms. From July to August, the number of open hotels rose to over 500, or 20 per cent, with approximately 30,000 rooms.”
PM promises to look into relaxing restrictions on entertainment industry
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday accepted proposals of the Creative Industry and Artists Network to ease Covid-19 measures related to filmmaking and reopening of theatres.
PM’s Office spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said the meeting was held via video conferencing between the premier and representatives of the network which consists of over 40 organisations in the entertainment industry as well as national and local artists.
The network has proposed that filmmaking crews be allowed to continue working while movie theatres and similar establishments be allowed to open in low-risk areas.
Prayut promised to have the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) consider the proposals as well as issue necessary regulations to ensure a safe working environment for personnel from the creative industry.
PM promises to look into relaxing restrictions on entertainment industry
“The prime minister urged the network to submit the list of personnel who will be working at filming locations so that authorities could supply Covid-19 vaccine as well as antigen test kits to help prevent the virus from spreading among filmmaking crews,” said Thanakorn. “He also promised to have the ministries of Finance, Fiscal Police Office and Office of the National Economics and Social Development Council provide financial aid to those in the creative industry, including granting tax breaks and soft loans to keep their businesses afloat amid the pandemic situation.”
No nod yet from Public Health Ministry on reopening Bangkok to foreign tourists
The Public Health Ministry has yet to greenlight the move to scrap quarantine requirement for foreign visitors even as the proposed date for the reopening of Bangkok looms.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Bangkok Metropolitan Administration have planned to accept foreign tourists without quarantine from October 15 to revive tourism in the capital.
However, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Thursday that he had yet to receive the proposal to remove quarantine requirement in Bangkok, adding that the Department of Disease Control (DDC) must first evaluate the outbreak situation in the countries where the tourists are from before such a move could be approved.
“The reopening of Bangkok also depends on the decision of the province’s communicable disease committee, as Bangkok has been managing its own public health system,” he said.
When asked about the fact that some public health experts have suggested the reopening of the country be postponed for another month from the original October 1 announced by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on June 16, Anutin said: “No one has said that we will reopen on the said date.”
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Anutin also added that the ministry had yet to decide if more lockdown measures would be eased after October 1, as the decision awaits the DDC’s evaluation of the outbreak situation.
Thailands Food and Drug Administration Expands Authorisation of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for Use in Adolescents 12 to 17 years old
Thailand, 16 September 2021 – ZP Therapeutics, a division of Zuellig Pharma, a leading healthcare services provider in Asia, today announced that Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the authorisation of the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for use in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old. The vaccination regimen is the same as that for adults – two doses of the vaccine to be administered 28 days apart.
“The approval of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for use in adolescents expands the vaccine arsenal that Thailand has to combat the pandemic. We are grateful that the Food and Drug Administration has authorised the use of the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna for adolescents so that they can be offered protection against the coronavirus, especially in light of the highly contagious Delta variant.
We are working tirelessly to support Thailand’s mass vaccination efforts. The more people we help to get vaccinated against the virus, the quicker we will reach herd immunity, and the faster we will be able to transition towards normalcy. We are very proud to have a role to play in this process,” said Ms. Sunaiyanaa Kidkasetpaisal, General Manager, ZP Therapeutics, Zuellig Pharma Thailand.
In May, Moderna announced that the Phase 2/3 TeenCOVE study of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna in adolescents met its primary immunogenicity endpoint, successfully bridging immune responses to the adult vaccination. Two-dose primary series of COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna showed 100% efficacy in protecting adolescents aged 12 to 17 from symptomatic infection.
The vaccine was generally well tolerated with a safety and tolerability profile generally consistent with the Phase 3 COVE study in adults. Safety data continues to accrue, and the study continues to be monitored by an independent safety monitoring committee. These data are subject to change based on ongoing data collection.
More groups to get annual flu jab as inoculation extended to year-end
The National Health Security Board (NHSB) has extended the government’s free flu-vaccination programme until the end of the year to compensate for disruption caused by Covid-19.
Only about 28 per cent of the target population has received the flu vaccine since this year’s programme launched on May 1, said the National Health Security Office (NHSO), which runs the programme.
A total of 6.2 million doses have been set aside this year, but only 1.7 million doses (28.05 per cent) had been administered as of August 6, said Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
The NHSB, which is chaired by Anutin, also consulted with the Department of Disease Control and resolved that three groups at risk from Covid-19 should also get free flu jabs this year. The three groups are: healthcare workers and others handling Covid-19 patients, people living, working or studying in crowded areas, and other people at risk from flu when the situation changes.
The three groups of people will receive flu jabs from October until the end of December, joining the seven groups encouraged to get vaccinated since May 1.
The seven groups are women from week 16 of their pregnancy, children aged six months to two years, people with any of seven chronic diseases – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, cancer that requires chemotherapy, and diabetes, people aged 65 and over, cerebral palsy requiring full-time assistance, thalassemia and immunodeficiency (including HIV Infected and Aids-related illness), and people weighing more than 100 kilograms or with a body mass index (BMI) of 35kg/m2 or higher.
This year’s flu vaccination programme is aimed at both preventing severe illness or death from influenza and avoiding confusion in diagnoses of flu and Covid-19, said deputy NHSO secretary-general Dr Jakkrit Ngowsiri.
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The NHSO will next step up a public campaign to encourage these target groups to get the flu shot along with the Covid-19 vaccine. People can receive the flu jab before or after their Covid-19 vaccine but they must leave at least two weeks between the jabs.
People can also take the flu vaccine between their first and second shots of Covid-19 vaccine, Jakkrit said.
Free flu jabs are available at all state-run hospitals and healthcare facilities under the universal coverage scheme (UCS), but booking an appointment is highly recommended to avoid overcrowding, he said.
Many people are forgetting they need to get the flu shot as they are focused more on Covid-19 vaccination this year, said NHSB member Assoc Prof Dr Prasopsri Ungthaworn.
As a result, this year’s flu vaccination target has not yet been met, she said.
Now that the Covid-19 vaccination rate has improved significantly, with about half of the elderly population already fully vaccinated, many healthcare providers may now be more prepared for the extended flu vaccination programme, she said.
People who have received Covid-19 two shots and are eligible for the free flu jab are therefore encouraged to take it, she said.
They include front-line healthcare workers fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and people in crowded communities, including students returning to school for the upcoming term.
“We haven’t provided the flu shot to these additional groups before. But since the flu and Covid-19 appear to have similar early symptoms, it will become easier to tell which patients are likely to have Covid-19 if we can prevent them from contracting the flu,” she said.
People eligible for free flu jabs can book them individually or in groups at hospitals and medical clinics under the UCS, she said.
Priority is currently being given to school students because children aged under 12 are not yet eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine and will have to return to school soon for the new term, she said. These children should get the flu vaccine first so they are protected against the disease, she added.
Thailand recorded 14,555 Covid-19 cases and 171 deaths on Friday.
Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday (September 17) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 14,555 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 790 of whom have been found in prisons.
Death toll increased by 171, while 13,691 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country are at 1,448,792 with 15,124 total deaths.
Rains ease in most of Thailand but isolated heavy showers forecast for the North
The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Friday that the southwest monsoon prevailed over the Andaman Sea, the South and the Gulf of Thailand, while a monsoon trough lay across the North and the upper Northeast regions.
Less rains are likely over most of the country with isolated heavy showers in the North.
People in risky areas should beware of flash floods.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 23-24 degrees Celsius, highs of 30-33°C.
Northeast: Thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 22-26°C, highs of 31-33°C.
Central: Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 24-25°C, highs of 32-35°C.
East: Thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 23-26°C, highs of 32-34°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Thundershowers in 30 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 23-25°C, highs of 32-35°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Thundershowers in 20 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 20-24°C, highs of 32-34°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 25-26°C, highs of 32-35°C.
Govt Facebook page says sorry to pop star Lisa after posting controversial cartoon
A government Facebook account on Covid-19 awareness has apologised to pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban after posting a cartoon that fans criticised as creepy and sexist.
Amember of South Korean girl group Blackpink, Lisa delighted her fans in Thailand by releasing her first solo music video last Friday (September 10).
The Buri Ram native wears a spectacular traditional Thai headdress in the video, which has racked up more than 152 million views in less than a week on YouTube.
However, her social media fans were fuming on Wednesday after the government’s “Thai Roo Soo Covid” (Thais know how to deal with Covid-19) Facebook account posted a cartoon of their idol.
It depicted Lisa in her traditional Thai outfit, holding a sign that reads “I have the strictest Covid-19 preventive measure for you”. Next to her is an old man whose thought bubble reads “You are very cute, I like you”.
Country must reopen next month to kick-start economy: Anutin
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Thursday insisted that the plan to reopen five provinces including Bangkok on October 1 has been properly assessed and is not premature.
Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Phetchaburi, and Prachuap Khiri Khan are slated to reopen on October 1 with more provinces to follow two weeks later.
Anutin acknowledged medical concerns over the continuing high infection rate but said reopening the country was needed to get the economy moving forward.
The minister also urged people not to panic about the high number of Covid-19 infections, saying most new cases are asymptomatic and the numbers are falling. Thailand’s daily caseload has dipped below 15,000 this month.
Anutin said the ministry was conducting daily Emergency Operation Centre meetings to assess the situation under the guidance of the Department of Disease Control and the Department of Medical Affairs.
“From the perspective of medics, it may not be an appropriate time to open the country due to the high infection rate. But from the business side, it is very essential to resume the businesses in order to move the economy forward. The ministry is taking opinions from both sides into consideration,” said Anutin.
Meanwhile, antigen test kits were now being distributed to volunteers nationwide, he added.
Anutin also confirmed that the government will roll out booster jabs for people who have received two doses of Sinovac vaccine.
PM promises to look into relaxing restrictions on entertainment industry
Country must reopen next month to kick-start economy: Anutin
Country must reopen next month to kick-start economy: Anutin
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