Thailand logged 14,403 new Covid-19 infections and 189 deaths over the past 24 hours on Friday. Of the new cases, 341 were in prisons.
Meanwhile, 15,610 patients have recovered and been discharged over the past 24 hours. Thailand’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 1,352,953 – 1,197,391 of whom have recovered, 141,642 are still in hospitals and 13,920 have died.
Separately, another 339,050 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 358,403 their second shot, and 1,168 a booster shot, bringing the total Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 38,873,359.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 224.05 million on Friday, 200.65 million of whom have recovered, 18.78 million are active cases (103,822 in severe condition) and 4.62 million have died (up by 9,526).
Thailand ranks 29th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 41.56 million, followed by India with 33.16 million, Brazil with 20.96 million, the UK with 7.13 million and Russia with 7.08 million.
DES to ensure smooth transition of satellite operations from Thaicom to NT
Officials from the Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry and the National Telecom Public Co Ltd (NT) will visit the head office of Thaicom Public Co Ltd on Friday to oversee the handover of satellite operations.
“People can rest assured that satellite TV and other telecommunication services will continue as normal as Thaicom transferred all its assets under the satellite project to NT since July 30,” DES Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said.
“The transfer of the Thaicom project to the state will boost the country’s telecommunications strength and ensure people from all walks of life can access quality internet and telecom services. This will also help reserve Thailand’s orbital positions for its telecom satellites.”
Thaicom manages two satellites under NT’s supervision, namely Thaicom 4 (IP Star) at 119.5 degrees East and Thaicom 6 at 78.5 degrees East.
Thaicom’s was given the concession on September 11, 1991, and has earned the state 13.85 billion baht in revenue so far – significantly higher than the 1.41 billion baht required by the contract.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appointed a panel of 16 individuals to check if Thaicom and Intouch Holdings, which holds 51 per cent of Thaicom, are following the terms of the concession contract and other related requirements.
The panel is chaired by General Wittawat Ratchatanan, former Ombudsman chair, and comprises legal and telecom exports such as Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, director of NT Plc Colonel Sappachai Huwanan and Justice Ministry permanent-secretary Wisit Wisitsora-at.
Don’t fall for ‘too good to be true’ deals on Facebook, police warn
Royal Thai Police (RTP) warned people on Thursday against falling for great deals offered on Facebook.
RTP deputy spokesperson Pol Colonel Siriwat Deepor cited the case of a man called Peerasilp (last name withheld) who was arrested on Tuesday over charges of fraud and violation of the Computer Crime Act.
Peerasilp ran a page called “Here Ball Rod Ban” (Mr Ball’s Motorhome) through which he allegedly sold cars, motorbikes, tractors, combine harvesters and even cattle. However, his customers reportedly did not receive any of the items they had paid for. Police claim the man duped people out of millions of baht.
Siriwat also cited an earlier case, when another man was arrested for reportedly selling luxury cars and other automobiles at a very low price, claiming they were legal. Police, however, caught on when checks showed the registrations were fake.
Siriwat said buyers should first check if the Facebook page is reliable and if they buy vehicles online, they should ensure the vehicles’ ownership documents are real.
Kratom can be grown, consumed and sold, ‘but not processed yet’
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said on Thursday that people are allowed to consume, grow and sell kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), but cannot process the leaves into food, beverage or herbal concoctions for sale.
He made this remark to clarify doubts after the natural stimulant was removed from the country’s list of banned narcotics on August 24.
“People need to get a permit before they can process kratom leaves into other products for sale,” he said.
He added that the Public Health Ministry is planning to amend laws related to herbal products, medicine, food and cosmetics in a bid to allow people to process kratom leaves freely.
“However, for now, those who process kratom leaves into food or beverage can face between six months and two years in prison and/or a fine of between 5,000 and 20,000 baht,” Somsak added.
Education Ministry aims to reopen schools by November
The Education Ministry said on Thursday that it intends to reopen schools by November, in time for the second semester of the 2021 academic year.
Ministry spokesperson Kesthip Supawanich said postponing or suspending the reopening of schools will affect the development of children. She also said it was not fair to get students stressed and affected in the long term.
The ministry has been calling on schools to avoid overburdening students with too much homework and for teachers to stop covering too much of the curriculum in their classes. She said teachers should balance their lessons between theory and practice.
She went on to say that the ministry has been working with the Department of Health and Department of Mental Health on finding ways to ease the stress of students, teachers and parents. The departments have collected information on different teaching methods, which will be distributed among teachers.
The ministry has also conducted a survey on 35,000 schools or so and learned they use a myriad of teaching methods, ranging from online and on-demand classes to teaching via television or radio, in person and on site.
The authorities have also launched a “Sandbox Safety Zone in School” project, under which students can attend classes safely in school by limiting the entry of people and conducting frequent rapid antigen tests. Many schools have been employing this method since August.
Livestock department unveils strategies to prevent egg price crash
The Department of Livestock Development is focusing on eliminating some hens and pushing exports in a bid to curb the crashing price of eggs during the “vegetarian festival” (Gin Jay Festival) in October.
Meanwhile animal feed factories have requested quotas to import other raw animal feed ingredients instead of the high-priced local corn.
Ahead of the annual vegetarian festival from October 6-14, the Department of Livestock Development held a Zoom conference meeting on September 6 to discuss preventive measures as the prices of chicken eggs would drop during the festival. Representatives from the Department of Internal Trade (DIT), cooperatives, associations, clubs and breeding chicken entrepreneurs were in attendance, with deputy director-general of the Department of Livestock Development.
The meeting highlighted three strategies:
Laying-hen farms with more than 100,000 hens are to get rid of hens 75 weeks old. Farms with 30,000-100,000 hens are to get rid of hens 80 weeks old;
The 63 laying-hen farms with more than 200,000 hens are to promote export of eggs with the targeted amount of 150 shipping containers from October to November. Farms that are unable to export are to get rid of the hens in the proportion prescribed by the Department of Livestock Development;
The Department of Livestock Development is to control the fertilised eggs, as fertilised eggs in the market have caused suffering to smallholder farmers.
In addition, the meeting has proposed to the Ministry of Commerce to compensate those who export chicken eggs. The ministry was also urged to control and supervise the price of raw animal feed ingredients, or to allow animal feed factories to import other raw animal feed ingredients to replace the local corn, which is currently priced high.
Thundershowers with isolated heavy rains forecast for most of Thailand
The Thailand Meteorological Department said on Friday that a strong southwest monsoon prevails across the Andaman Sea, Thailand and the Gulf of Thailand while an active monsoon trough lies across the lower North, the Central, and the lower Northeast.
Thundershowers are forecast for the country with isolated heavy to very heavy rains in some areas. People should beware of rain accumulation that may cause flash floods.
Waves 2-3 metres high and above three metres in thundershowers are likely in the Andaman Sea.
All ships should proceed with caution and small boats should keep ashore.
The department also said that the tropical storm “Conson” over the South China Sea is moving west. It is expected to intensify and move near the coast of upper Vietnam on September 13.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy to very heavy rains; temperature lows of 22-24 degrees Celsius, highs of 28-33°C.
Northeast: Thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 23-25°C, highs of 30-33°C.
Central: Thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 24-25°C, highs of 33-34°C.
East: Thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy to very heavy rains; temperature lows of 24-25°C, highs of 29-34°C; waves 2 metres high and over 2 metres during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Thundershowers in 60 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 23-24°C, highs of 32-34°C; waves 2 metres high and over 2 metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Thundershowers in 70 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 20-24°C, highs of 29-33°C; waves 2-3 metres high and over 3 metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Thundershowers in 80 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 24-25°C, highs of 30-32°C.
Remote care: An insider’s guide to Thailand’s Covid-19 success story
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital is one of many Thai hospitals that have partnered with the National Health Security Office (NHSO) and Public Health Ministry to pilot a home/community isolation programme for Covid-19 patients.
Located in Ayutthaya province, north of Bangkok, the hospital provides care to more than 3,000 coronavirus patients under isolation.
Currently, around 300 new cases are reported daily in the province. As of August 30, there were 7,634 active cases and 13,264 who had recovered.
Dr Chokchai Leetochawalit, director of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital, said his hospital had joined the home/community isolation programme when it launched on July 12.
“We struggled a bit at the beginning as we had to find a way to adapt to remote care. But we learned to improve along the way thanks to the NHSO guidelines,” he said.
More than 90 per cent of Covid-19 patients in Ayutthaya city are either under the home/community isolation programme or receiving intensive care at hospitals.
Home/Community isolation
Home isolation provides a hybrid of virtual and on-ground care to patients. Hospital staff monitor them via online consultations while providing medicine, medical devices, and meals via home delivery service.
Community isolation involves members of communities or local administrative organisations who manage community isolation facilities for Covid-19 patients unable to isolate themselves at home.
The programme is driven by resource-sharing among different players in the Thai health system – from the central and local governments, state and private hospitals, clinics and pharmacies to local communities – to provide care to patients while curbing the spread of coronavirus.
Remote care
To join the home/community isolation programme, said Dr Saowalak Chaoponetong, assistant hospital director, each Covid-19 patient must first have a chest X-ray.
This helps hospital staff evaluate the patients’ condition and ensure they will not develop severe symptoms when isolating at home or in a community facility.
While under isolation, each patient will receive medicines – including green chiretta (fah talai jone) capsules, pain relievers, runny-nose and cough medicines, a thermometer, a finger pulse oximeter, and a kit containing items for daily use.
Within two days of testing positive, they will get food deliveries managed by the hospital staff. Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital is also distributing antiviral favipiravir to community-level hospitals in its network for new cases within 24 hours of detection.
Monitoring patients
To monitor patients remotely, Dr Saowalak said that her staff are providing virtual consultations to patients via COVID Tracker, a telemedicine software developed by Precision Dietz Co Ltd.
The patients must measure their temperature and oxygen level with the medical devices provided by the hospital staff and report the results online twice a day – at 9am and 3pm. They must also fill out a short online form to report their symptoms daily.
These results are collected in the hospital database and used to analyse and classify patients, allowing hospital staff to monitor thousands of patients simultaneously.
The computer system alerts hospital staff if the data shows any patient has developed more severe symptoms. These patients are then transferred from their homes to hospital immediately.
“Along with data, the strength of the primary care network is a crucial factor that helps us to run the home/community isolation programme effectively,” said Dr Saowalak.
“Our staff are collaborating and working together with family doctors and health workers at community hospitals to monitor patients under isolation. These community healthcare workers help us to assure local community residents that home/community isolation is not scary and will not spread the disease to whole communities,” she added.
Provide support
“The home/community isolation programme is the solution for our health system that is currently having to handle a spike in coronavirus cases under constrained resources,” said Dr Athaporn Limpanyalers, NHSO deputy secretary-general.
“It also helps free beds for moderate and critical patients who need intensive care in hospitals.”
However, despite the success story of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Hospital, the programme still has room for improvement.
Dr Peera Areerat, Ayutthaya provincial public health chief, said that the programme might cost extra for some hospitals, which have already experienced liquidity problems.
He urges the government to distribute funds to provincial organisations or local governments that understand the healthcare context and challenges on the ground, so they can allocate budget to hospitals directly and efficiently.
“The NHSO will do everything it can to support local organisations and health workers,” said Dr Athaporn.
Meanwhile, the NHSO has adjusted its claim system in recent months, adopting artificial intelligence in auditing to hasten claim-document reviews and transactions. It is also working with IT developers to pilot a QR Code authentication system that will reduce hospital staff’s workload by making patients’ verification easier and quicker.
In addition, the NHSO has recruited licensed private clinics, including beauty clinics, to take part in the home isolation programme. They will provide care and remote consultation to Covid-19 patients and guidance for individuals on how to use Covid-19 antigen test kits.
Thailand recorded 14,403 Covid-19 cases and 189 deaths on Friday.
Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday (September 10) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 14,403 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 341 of whom have been found in prisons.
Death toll increased by 189, while 15,610 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country are at 1,352,953 with 13,920 total deaths.
Bangkok among 5 more provinces reopening to foreign tourists on Oct 1
Bangkok, Chonburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Chiang Mai will reopen to foreign tourists on October 1, the government said on Thursday.
The second phase of reopening the country follows the success of tourism “sandbox” schemes in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Surat Thani over the past two months, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
Phuket sandbox tourists had spent an average of 6,000-7,000 baht per trip, bringing total tourism income of 1.634 billion baht to boost recovery of the island’s economy, said Thanakorn.
The five provinces set to reopen under phase 2 are now accelerating vaccination and launching tourism campaigns such as the Bangkok Sandbox, Hua Hin Recharge, and Charming Chiang Mai.
Phase 3 of the plan will see another 21 provinces open in mid-October.
These are Lamphun, Phrae, Nan, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai and Sukhothai in the North; Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan and Ubon Ratchathani in the Northeast; Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi in the West; Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat in the East; Ayutthaya in the Central Region; and Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ranong and Satun in the South.
Phase 4 will see another 13 border provinces open in January next year under travel-bubble agreements with neighbouring countries.
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