Nakhon Ratchasima has eight confirmed cases of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), Governor Wichian Chantharothai said on Saturday.
“The infection is still at a manageable level, while I have ordered public health officials to visit local communities to explain the disease symptoms, how to protect oneself against it and what to do if an infection was found in the community,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Narinrat Pitchayakamin, Nakhon Ratchasima public health officer, added that currently there were 30 patients suspected of contracting RSV who were being monitored at Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital.
“Most of the suspected cases are children 2-5 years old, including the eight patients who were confirmed to have contracted RSV,” he said. “However, their symptoms are still not serious and they have low risk of spreading the virus to other children, as they have yet to attend any schools or nurseries.
“There is a rumour circulating in social media that the RSV situation in the province is escalating and the hospitals are at full capacity, with calls to announce a lockdown of schools and nurseries immediately,” he added. “We urge people not to panic because of this rumour, as Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital is still capable of treating additional RSV patients, while there is still no report of infections from schools or nurseries.”
Narinrat explained that RSV is a virus that causes respiratory tract infections and is commonly found among children under five years and those aged above 65.
“The virus usually spreads around the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the cold season. It can enter the body via conjunctiva, nose, mouth or via hand contact,” he said. “Children with underlying heart and lung problems might suffer breathing problems if they contract RSV and might require hospitalisation and even a ventilator to reduce distress.
“Parent can help reduce the risk of their children contracting RSV by keeping them healthy during the cold weather, drink lots of water, have them wash their hands frequently, as well as sanitise their houses regularly,” he said. “It is also advisable to wear sanitary face masks when entering public or crowded places and avoid sharing personal items such as cups, spoons and bowls with others.”
Three beauty queens from the Miss Grand Thailand pageant have urged the National Police to follow up the case of alleged forest encroachment by Palang Pracharath member of Parliament Pareena Kraikup.
On Friday, the Miss Grand Thailand page on Facebook posted that three beauty queens had met commander Pol Maj-General Pitak Uthaitham of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division, to cheer him and his subordinates up.
The petitioners included 2020 pageant winner Patcharaporn Chantarapadit, first runner-up Indy Johnson and second runner-up Patchaploy Ruendaluang.
The beauties also asked the National Police to follow up the case of MP Pareena, who allegedly encroached on the national forest reserve in Ratchaburi province.
The land encroachment allegation against Pareena made national headlines in February when the Royal Forest Department filed charges against her after months of investigation revealed that her Khao Son 2 chicken farm in Rangbua subdistrict of Jombeung district allegedly encroached on 711 rai, 2 ngarn and 93 square wah (approximately 115 hectares) of protected forestland.
The new Ong Ang Walking Street in Bangkok is now open to the public every Friday to Sunday from 4pm to 10pm.
On Friday, Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang posted photos of the walking street on his Facebook page.
The move aims to stimulate the community’s economy and generate revenue from tourism. The walking street’s event theme will be changed every week.
This week’s theme is cosplay, which allows people to cosplay as cartoon characters, animals, etc, while the event also features music performances, street art exhibitions and a variety of products from retailers.
People can visit Ong Ang Walking Street by taking the MRT train ride to Sam Yot station.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration reported 12 new Covid-19 cases, including one domestic case, over a 24-hour period on Saturday.
The domestic case was found in Krabi province. He was an Indian male, 37, who worked as a restaurant staff in the province.
The Indian man was reportedly found infected when he went for a health checkup for his work permit. He lived in Thailand, and had not move to other areas.
Later, Krabi Hospital said that his second and third tests were negative. However, the hospital will quarantine him and test him again.
Nine patients were found in state quarantine and two patients were sent back to Myanmar.
The patients in state quarantine included two each from France and the US and one each from the United Arab Emirates, India, Mexico, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Most of the patients were foreigners. Four of the new cases were Thai nationals coming from the UAE, the US and Switzerland.
The two people sent back to Myanmar were drivers aged 29 and 45.
The total number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 3,830 (875 in state quarantine), of whom 126 are in hospital and 3,644 have recovered. The death toll has risen to 60.
As of Saturday morning, the number of confirmed cases globally according to Worldometer had increased to 49.65 million. Of them, 35.25 million have recovered, while 14.4 million are active cases (90,806 in severe condition) and 1.24 million have died (with 9,082 new deaths).
Thailand ranks 149th among countries with most cases. US still has the most cases with 10.05 million, followed by India 8.46 million, Brazil 5.63 million, Russia 1.73 million and France 1.66 million.
Songkhla Zoo lured its meerkats to forecast the US presidential election on Friday.
Veterinarian Wanchai Tanwattana, the zoo chief, said that zoo officials set up pictures of former vice president Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump inside the meerkats’ cage to draw their attention before allowing them to eat ants and termites.
After the official released the meerkats, they spent a long time before choosing Biden’s picture.
“We just aimed to lure the meerkats to forecast whether Biden or Trump will become US president, so do not think too much,” Wanchai said, adding the election result would be announced soon.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has picked Thailand among four countries who have demonstrated efficient management of the Covid-19 outbreak to share their experiences and policies with other countries via video conference, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday.
“Thailand, Indonesia, South Africa and Uzbekistan were selected by WHO as countries that had successfully handled the Covid-19 situation using public health measures such as aggressive testing, contact tracing, patient investigation and intensive quarantine,” he said.
“In the case of Thailand, we also have received positive cooperation from the public in following public health measures. This resulted in Thailand having a relatively low number of domestic cases, while most of the infections have come from overseas.”
Anutin added that Thailand has been strictly following WHO’s Guidance for Conducting a Country Covid-19 Intra-Action Review (IAR), which was developed to guide countries to conduct periodic review of their national and subnational Covid-19 response, so countries do not miss critical opportunities for learning and improvement to better respond to the Covid-19 outbreak in their countries.
“The IAR that we performed on July 20-24 revealed that Thailand’s success in handling Covid-19 derived from the government’s decisive policies based on a strong public health foundation, as well as cooperation from all sectors that helped minimise the spread of Covid-19 in Thailand,” said Anutin.
The government will organise a Buddhist chanting ceremony at central temples in each province every Saturday until December 5, to mark the birthday of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and to commemorate his “royal grace and kindness towards Thai people”, Anucha Nakasai, minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, said.
December 5 is also Thailand’s official National Day and Father’s Day.
“As the majority of Thais are Buddhist, we believe that the ceremony will help people in adapting Buddhism’s dharmic principle to their daily lives, especially during the time of crisis caused by the pandemic and the difference in political ideology,” he said.
“The ceremony in Bangkok will be held on November 7 from 10pm onwards at Wat Bowonniwet Vihara in Phra Nakhon district, while upcountry the governor of each province will work with the Provincial Buddhist Office to select a suitable location to hold the ceremony every Saturday until December 5,” he said.
The Nonthaburi provincial court on Friday sentenced a teacher in a local school to 45 days of unsuspended jail term for assaulting a kindergartener.
The jail sentence of Phraewnapha Sriphood, a nursery teacher at Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School in Nonthaburi province, was halved from three months as she confessed to her crime.
The incident had sparked public criticism after CCTV footage showing Phraewnapha punishing a student in the classroom by putting a black garbage bag on the boy’s head before pulling it down to cover his entire body went viral on the internet. The suspect was also seen threatening other students with the same punishment if they did not stop crying.
Phraewnapha was found guilty and given three months’ imprisonment. However, since the defendant confessed to the crime and cooperated with the investigation, the court halved her sentence to 45 days of unsuspended jail time.
Earlier this week, laywer Ronnarong Kaewphet of Justice-seeking Advocacy Network said the Nonthaburi court had given imprisonment sentences ranging from 15 to 75 days to four other teachers of Sarasas Witaed Ratchaphruek School for assaulting kindergarteners by banging their heads on their desks, pushing them to the ground or twisting their ears.
Ronnarong added that all the accused had confessed to their crimes, so the prison time they received was halved from the original verdict.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday that he would share the lessons Thailand had learned from its success in containing Covid-19 at the third Paris Peace Forum, which will be held on November 12 via online video conferencing.
In his statement, Prayut said, “The third edition of Paris Peace Forum is an important opportunity where I join other leaders, international organisations and civil society, in a brainstorming session to draw lessons learned and bring about resilient and sustainable solutions in the post-Covid world.
“Like every other country, Thailand has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, we successfully controlled the situation with the number of infected persons in only four digits and the number of the deceased less than 60. I would thus like to speak on:
“1. People centrality is the major pillar to handle this challenge as well as to create a new normal consistent with Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030, leaving no one behind.
“2. Effective medical system, strong public health sector, and competent healthcare professionals are the important contributing factors to Thailand’s success, in particular the support given by over one million health volunteers stationed in villages throughout the country to ensure the accessibility to public health of all people.”
The forum “Reflection on the principles and the priorities of the post-Covid world” will be held on November 12 from 2pm-3.30pm (8pm-9.30pm Thailand time). Interested persons can register to participate in the forum at https://parispeaceforum.org/become-a/
Dr Narinrat Pitchayakamin 
Anutin Charnvirakul 
