Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday (April 28) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 14,437 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 77 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
Death toll increased by 127, while 18,509 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 2,000,573.
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The Thailand Meteorological Department (TMD) warned people to beware of thunderstorms from April 29 to May 5.
Thailand is entering the pre-southwest monsoon period, a transition from the hot to rainy season.
The wind system before the rainy season will vary:
South or southeast wind: morning to late morning.
Southwest wind: afternoon to night.
South and southeast winds will blow humidity from the Gulf of Thailand across the country, which will cause thunderstorms in some areas. Meanwhile, eastern and southeastern winds will blow the humidity to cover the Gulf of Thailand and the South, which will lead to scattered thunderstorms there.
The TMD advised people to prepare for thunderstorms in some areas, while those working in the open should beware of heatstroke.
The department also said that on some days the weather might be hot as there would be numerous wind currents. The rainy period depends on the wind direction.
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s proposal to raise postal service rates.
The ministry said Thailand Post is likely to incur a loss as it had not requested an increase in postal service rates for 18 years despite the increase in operational costs due to inflation.
“Citing the data between 2011 and 2020, Thailand Post has a social service burden of up to THB18.38 billion and it is likely to increase further,” the ministry said.
Thailand Post made a profit of THB3.82 billion in 2019, but it fell to THB385 million in 2020, and it incurred a loss of THB904 million in 2021.
In its 2020 annual report, Thailand Post said the agency has to run more than 5,000 post offices to enable people to access postal services even though some of them generated low revenue.
The revised postal service rates are as follows:
Envelopes (1-2,000 grams):
2022-2024: THB3-55 a piece
2025 onwards: THB4-62 a piece
Postcards:
2022-2024: THB2 a piece
2025 onwards: THB3 a piece
Publications (1-2,000 grams):
2022-2024: THB3-25 a piece
2025 onwards: THB4-33 a piece
Parcels (1-1,000 grams):
2022-2024: THB15-20 a piece
2025 onwards: THB20-25 a piece
Delivery of literature for the blind, weighing not more than 7,000 grams, is still free.
Researchers are likely to develop Covid-19 antiviral drugs than vaccines as there is lower investment involved, expert virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
He explained that any development of vaccines would focus on containing the spread of the disease during an emergency before concentrating on safety once the situation returns to normal.
“To study a vaccine’s efficiency, it is necessary to have more than 10,000 volunteers use both real and placebo jabs,” he said.
“However, a study on drug efficiency involves up to 1,000 volunteers, so it requires lower investment compared to vaccine trials.”
Yong said the possibility of developing an entirely new Covid-19 vaccine is almost zero at this point because a third phase of clinical trials needs a large amount of investment, plus the severity of the disease is likely to drop.
He pointed out that no new Thai influenza vaccine has been launched after one was developed during the flu outbreak in 2009.
To celebrate the upcoming Royal Ploughing Ceremony, which will be held at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang on May 13, the Rice Department is handing out six breeds of rice weighing 1,728 kilograms that it received from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Department director-general Nutthakit Khongthip said on Wednesday the six breeds of rice are 245kg of Jasmine 105, Pathum Thani 1 (399kg), Kor Khor 43 (125kg), Kor Khor 6 (70kg), Kor Khor 87 (300kg), and Kor Khor 85 (589kg).
To reduce the risk of Covid-19 spreading, those interested in receiving the rice can scan the QR code below or register online at https://rice.moac.go.th/ from May 8. Each person will be entitled to two bags of rice in husks that they can grow themselves. Registrants can pick up the rice at provincial or district agricultural offices from May 13.
Phuket has fully opened its doors to travellers from May 1 without restrictions, as the number of Covid-19 patients is continuously decreasing.
Phuket’s Committee of Communicable Disease on Tuesday approved to cancel screening measures by any method, in line with the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA)’s conclusion on April 22.
Phuket Governor Narong Woonsiew said after the meeting that the committee had analysed the Covid-19 situation. They found that the number of patients in Phuket had continued to decrease. He said that as of Sunday there were only 98 new confirmed cases.
The committee has decided to allow travellers to enter Phuket without presenting vaccination certificates or Covid-19 test results from May 1.
Phuket public health chief Dr Koosak Kookiatkul confirmed that Phuket is ready to deal with any new wave of infection after cancelling the screening measure.
He said that there are only 20 pneumonia patients in Phuket while the occupancy rate is only around 24 to 25 per cent. If there are new patients, he expected that hospitals will be able to provide beds to them.
The Department of Livestock Development on Monday unveiled two pairs of sacred oxen for the royal Ploughing Ceremony at Bangkok’s Sanam Luang on May 13.
Oxen eligible to participate in the ceremony must have good characteristics and manners plus similar skin and fur colour, said department director-general Sorawit Thaneeto.
The first pair of oxen are named “Por” and “Piang”. Both main oxen are 10 years old. Combined, their names mean “sufficiency”.
The second pair of oxen are called “Perm” and “Pool”. The reserve animals are 12 years old, and combined their names mean “prosperity”.
“These oxen have pinkish-white skin, clean white fur and no dark spots or other colours on their bodies,” he explained. “Their horns and tails are beautiful and they look graceful while standing or walking.”
Separately, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry said this year’s royal Ploughing Ceremony will be held live via the Television Pool of Thailand, Radio Thailand and on social media from 8am on May 13.
In the ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough. They plough a furrow in ceremonial ground while rice seeds are sown by court Brahmins.
After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including grass, rice grain, corn, green beans, sesame, liquor and water.
Depending on what the oxen eat, court astrologers and Brahmins make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not.
Suvarnabhumi Airport announced on Tuesday that ambulances of both hospitals and foundations under the National Institute for Emergency Medicine (NIEM) can enter the airport at any time to pick up emergency patients.
The airport was responding to a viral post on social media by Facebook user “Tuktik Kon Chiang Nua”, who claimed the airport did not allow an ambulance he had called in to pick up his father, a taxi driver who suffered a sudden shock while dropping off passengers at the airport.
The taxi driver reportedly died soon after due to lack of oxygen supply to his brain.
“I had called NIEM via their hotline 1669 to pick up my father, but Suvarnabhumi officials said the airport was not under NIEM jurisdiction and all emergency cases must be handled by a private hospital located at the airport,” wrote Tuktik in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“Waiting for an airport emergency unit to arrive resulted in delayed treatment for my father, and we lost him before he could reach the nearest Sirindhorn Hospital. Later, the emergency team charged me 13,000 baht for the ambulance and medical fees despite the fact that the ambulance service via 1669 is free.”
In its announcement, the airport said an investigation revealed that the incident took place on April 25 at around 7.40pm when airport security officials had been alerted that a taxi driver had suffered a seizure on the road outside Gate 6 of Passenger Terminal 4.
“Officials then contacted the emergency medical team at Samitivej Suvarnabhumi Clinic located inside the airport to help the patient. After providing preliminary aid the team decided to use its ambulance to transport him to Sirindhorn Hospital, which is the closest public hospital and has equipment for his treatment,” said the announcement.
“Suvarnabhumi Airport did not restrict any NIEM ambulance,” the airport insisted. “In the past there have been several incidents where ambulances from hospitals and foundations have entered the airport to pick up patients suffering from accidents or acute illness,” it added.
Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Tuesday that his ministry was considering replacing the current Thailand Pass system with a vaccine passport for screening foreign arrivals.
He was speaking at the opening ceremony of Thailand MICE Day 2022 at Bangkok’s IconSiam shopping complex.
Hosted by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, the event aims to promote meetings, incentive travel, conventions and exhibitions in the country after the Test & Go system for foreign arrivals ends on April 30.
“Vaccine passports are an international standard used to screen foreign arrivals based on each visitor’s vaccination history. We could use this to replace Thailand Pass,” Anutin said.
“The ministry is working on designing the process that can verify a person’s vaccine history, and will evaluate the situation again.”
Based on the current situation, the minimum requirement for a vaccine passport should be three doses of Covid-19 vaccine, as two jabs alone are not enough to raise immunity for a prolonged period, Anutin pointed out.
He insisted that Covid-19 insurance would still be a prerequisite for all foreign arrivals even after Thailand switches to vaccine passports.
“We are trying to return everything back to normal as soon as we can so people can go back to living their lives as they did before the outbreak, but the timing and measures must be carefully decided upon to prevent any future problems,” Anutin said.
“Currently, the ministry is maintaining the ‘3 adequacies’ policy to support the full reopening of Thailand, that is ensuring we have adequate drugs and medical supplies, adequate health professionals, and adequate hospital beds for Covid-19 patients,” he added.
From May 1, those who wish to enter the country must register via Thailand Pass and present a vaccine certificate as well as evidence of Covid-19 insurance with coverage of US$10,000 (THB342,000). If a traveller is unvaccinated, he/she must also present either a negative RT-PCR result taken within 72 hours of departure, or evidence of a 5-day booking at an alternate quarantine facility. There will be no tests upon arrival, but visitors are advised to take an antigen test (ATK) during their stay in Thailand.
Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday (April 27) morning that in the past 24 hours there are 14,887 new patients who tested positive for Covid-19, 71 of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
Death toll increased by 125, while 18,919 patients were cured and allowed to leave hospitals.
Cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022 are at 1,986,136.
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