Opening hours curtailed for shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores
Shopping complexes and community malls will be open from 11am to 8pm from April 25 to May 2 in Covid-19 red zone provinces, the Thai Retailers Association announced on Saturday. Supermarkets and cafeterias will close at 9pm, while convenience stores will be open 5am to 10pm.
Red zone provinces include: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Samut Prakan, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Samut Sakhon, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom, Phuket, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Songkhla, Tak, Udon Thani, Suphanburi, Sa Kaew, Rayong and Khon Kaen.
Higest record number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths on a single day
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Saturday reported 2,839 new cases and eight deaths, taking the total number of Covid-related fatalities in Thailand to 129.
The fatalities reported on Saturday included:
▪︎A 48-year-old man suffering from obesity in Samut Prakan province. His infection was confirmed on April 18 and he died on April 22.
▪︎An 83-year-old woman in Bangkok who suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure. This case was confirmed on April 18 and she died on April 22.
▪︎An 89-year-old man in Bangkok who had colorectal cancer. He was confirmed infected on Friday and died the same day.
▪︎A 63-year-old man in Bangkok with high blood pressure and gout. His case was confirmed on April 22 and he died on April 23.
▪︎A 68-year-old man in Chachoengsao province who suffered from heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure and high blood fat. He tested positive on April 11 and died on April 22.
▪︎An 82-year-old woman in Samut Prakan province who had cervical cancer. She tested positive on April 14 and died on April 20.
▪︎A 75-year-old man in Nakhon Sawan province who had high blood pressure and fat, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. He tested positive on April 11 and died on April 22.
▪︎A 62-year-old man in Nonthaburi province who suffered chronic kidney failure. This person was confirmed for Covid-19 on April 21 and died on April 23.
Meanwhile, 377 patients were discharged from hospitals following full recovery.
As of Saturday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 53,022. Of these, 49,756 had been contracted locally, including 21,378 who were found via proactive testing, while 3,266 were returnees.
So far, 30,566 have recovered and been discharged, 22,327 are still in hospitals and 129 have died.
In the last 24 hours, 100,367 people had received their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 30,253 got their second shot, bringing the total number of doses administered in Thailand up to 1,095,445.
According to Worldometer, as of 11am on Saturday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 146.22 million (up by 896,922), 124.01 million of whom have recovered, 19.12 million are active cases (109,892 in severe condition) and 3.09 million have died (up by 14,218).
Thailand ranks 105th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 32.73 million, followed by India 16.6 million, Brazil 14.23 million, France 5.44 million and Russia 4.74 million.
GPO chief clarifies on questions over Sinovac vaccine expiry date
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has eased fears created by some social media posts over the expiry date of Sinovac vaccines.
The posts said that some boxes of Sinovac vaccines given to medical professionals and volunteers had the expiry date crossed out, and they could have expired.
“This is a misunderstanding,” GPO director-general Dr Witoon Danwiboon said on Friday.
“The vaccine normally would expire three years from the manufacturing date. However, the Thailand Food and Drug Administration [FDA] has set the expiry date for Covid-19 vaccine to be used in Thailand at only six months.
“We have already contacted the manufacturer to change the expiration date accordingly, but they said they could do that from the second lot onwards. The first lot of 200,000 doses that had already been shipped to Thailand would have the original expiration date,” he added.
“The GPO did not cross out the expiration date on the boxes, but we believe that it could have been done by officials who wished to correct the expiration date to meet the FDA’s regulation.”
Witoon added that the second lot of 800,000 doses would arrive in boxes carrying a six-month expiration date together with a QR code that could be scanned to read the detailed drug description.
“The changing of boxes and labels has no effect on the vaccine’s quality whatsoever,” he assured.
100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to be procured by year-end: PM
The government aims to procure 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for 50 million people before the year-end, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Friday evening.
In a statement on the government’s plan to combat the Covid-19 situation, the PM said that so far Thailand had received 2.1 million doses of vaccine for 1.05 million people. He said 840,000 people had already been vaccinated, about half of them medical professionals and volunteers who work in close contact with patients.
Prayut added that so far orders for 64 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been placed — 61 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, which will start to arrive in lots from June onwards, and 2.5 million doses of Sinovac vaccine, 2 million of which have already arrived with the balance 500,000 doses arriving on Saturday.
“The government is negotiating with manufacturers to buy 5-10 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine and 5-10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, while the Board of Trade of Thailand would help procure another 10-15 million doses for its employees,” added Prayut.
“As for the treatment of patients, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation has distributed over 300,000 tablets of Favipiravir to hospitals and is in the process of importing additional 2 million tablets,” said the PM. “Nationwide, we have over 28,000 hospital beds available for Covid-19 patients and suspected patients. This number includes public and private hospitals, field hospitals and hospitels.”
Regarding economic recovery measures, Prayut said the government had prepared a Bt380-billion budget for this purpose.
“Of this amount, Bt240 billion would come from the Bt1-trillion loan to deal with crisis, Bt100 billion would come from the 2021 fiscal budget and Bt40 billion would come from the Covid-19 mitigation budget,” said Prayut.
With eight deaths and close to 3,000 new Covid-19 cases, Thailand saw its worst day on Saturday since the pandemic began last year.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Saturday reported 2,839 new cases, plus eight deaths.
There were 22,327 active cases in hospitals, while cumulative cases rose to 53,022 since the outbreak.
On Friday, the CCSA had warned that there were ICU beds and negative-pressure rooms for only 19 days if the current rate of new infections continued at 1,500 patients daily.
Plan to vaccinate 70 per cent of Bangkok’s population by year-end
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is aiming to create herd immunity against Covid-19 by vaccinating at least 70 per cent of residents aged over 18 years in all 50 districts, an estimated 5.35 million people.
BMA permanent secretary Silapasuay Raweesaengsoon said on Friday that to achieve this goal, “we have requested 10.48 million doses of vaccine from the government for inoculation from May until December”, she said.
“In the second half of the year, vaccination would be available at both private and public hospitals for the general public, while mobile units will provide vaccination to underprivileged and fragile groups, such as at nursing homes, halfway houses and to disabled people.”
Silapasuay added that in June, the BMA would receive 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to be provided to people aged above 60 years and those who have chronic diseases.
“We are also planning to establish mobile vaccination units at nine public places in the province for people’s convenience and to reduce the need to visit hospitals,” she said.
“These locations are: SCG Headquarters (Bang Sue), Central Lat Phrao, True Digital Park, Thanya Park, The Mall Bang Kapi, Robison Lifestyle Lat Krabang, Central Pinklao, The Mall Bang Khae and Lotus Minburi. Each location is expected to vaccinate around 14,000 people per day.”
China to donate 500,000 vaccine doses to help Thailand combat Covid-19
Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai had a conversation with Chinas State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, on strengthening bilateral ties and the situation in Myanmar.
During the 30-minute call, both sides discussed cooperation in the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, the Chinese embassy in Bangkok said. Don thanked Wang for China’s pledge to donate 500,000 doses of vaccines to support the efforts of the Thai government in combating the pandemic.
Don, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs, followed up with the Chinese side the request to facilitate the return of Thai students to China to continue their studies. The issue had been discussed by both sides during Wang’s official visit to Thailand last October.
They also exchanged views on the situation in Myanmar. As next-door neighbours of Myanmar, both Thailand and China wished for a return to stability and normalcy in Myanmar. The Chinese side expressed appreciation and fully supported the efforts of Thailand and Asean to constructively engage with Myanmar and to encourage the pursuance of dialogue with a view to achieving a peaceful resolution to the situation, including the convening of the Asean Leaders’ Meeting, the statement said.
The Thai side expressed appreciation to the Chinese side for its support to Asean in this endeavour.
Don also accepted Wang’s invitation to attend the Special Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Asean-China dialogue relations and the Sixth Mekong-Lancang Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which China plans to host in June 2021.
Hot day with isolated thundershowers forecast for most of Thailand
A hot to very hot day is forecast for upper Thailand due to the thermal low covering the area.
Meanwhile, the southwesterly winds carry moisture from the Andaman Sea and the Gulf to the Northeast, the Central including Bangkok and its vicinity, and the East regions, the Thailand Meteorological Department said on Saturday.
Isolated thundershowers are forecast for these areas.
The westerly winds bring thundershowers to the South.
The department said that from April 26-29, thunderstorms with gusty winds, hail and isolated heavy rains are possible in upper Thailand due to another high-pressure system from China. This system will extend to the Northeast and the South China Sea.
The weather forecast for the next 24 hours:
North: Hot to very hot day with haze and isolated rains in the western part of the region; temperature lows of 24-28 degrees Celsius, highs of 37-41°C.
Northeast: Hot day with thundershowers in 10 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 24-26°C, highs of 36-38°C.
Central: Hot day with isolated rains in the western part of the region; temperature lows of 25-27°C, highs of 36-39°C.
East: Hot day with thundershowers in 20 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 24-28°C, highs of 33-37°C; waves less than a metre high and over a metre during thundershowers.
South (east coast): Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas; temperature lows of 24-26°C, highs of 33-36°C; waves a metre high and 1-2 metres during thundershowers.
South (west coast): Thundershowers in 40 per cent of the areas with isolated heavy rains; temperature lows of 22-25°C, highs of 32-34°C; waves 1-2 metres high and 2 metres during thundershowers.
Bangkok and surrounding areas: Hot day with isolated rains; temperature lows of 26-27°C, highs of 35-38°C.
The fourth lot of Sionvac vaccine at 500,000 doses from China reached Thailand on Saturday (April 24), the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok posted on its facebook.
“Since the start of 2021, China has provided 2.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Thailand despite insufficient vaccine manufacturing in China,” said the embassy. “Due to the close relationship between Chinese and Thai people, China will continue to provide aids to Thailand in fighting against Covid-19.”
Record daily infections proves govt not hiding bad news, says health minister
The record number of daily Covid-19 cases announced on Friday proves the government is not concealing information about the outbreak from press and public, said Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
On Friday, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported 2,070 new cases and four deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-related fatalities in Thailand to 121.
This was also the highest number of new cases in a single day in Thailand since the epidemic began early last year. The daily caseload jumped by 600 cases, from 1,470 on Thursday.
Anutin said that most new cases were found in big cities. He added that the information proved the government was not hiding information about the severity of the situation.
The minister told reporters that the number of Covid-19 cases was still controllable. Despite the daily increase, the average number of infections was within expectations and the number of new cases would fall in the next two weeks, he said.
He added that the outbreak linked to the Bangkok pubs cluster would be controlled by the end of this month.
