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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000066

Siriraj calls for blood donations as its supplies run low

Siriraj Hospital’s blood bank is running low because people have not been donating blood due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Dr Parichart Phermphikul said on Wednesday.

“Many patients need emergency surgery, and many require blood transfusions, but the hospital’s supplies are running low,” said Siriraj’s Department of Transfusion Medicine chief.

“Hence, healthy people who have not visited high-risk areas or been in close contact with confirmed Covid patients in the past two weeks should come and donate blood to help save these people.”

Only donors who weigh more than 48 kilograms and have slept at least six hours the night before will be allowed to give blood. The hospital also suggests that donors avoid high-fat food, cigarettes and alcohol before donating blood. People with chronic conditions like epilepsy, heart diseases or chest pain should consult a physician first.

Donations can be made at the hospital daily from 8.30am to 4pm. Call (02) 414 0100 or (02) 414 0102 for more information.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000065

Phuket waives THB300 Covid test fee for Thais entering province

Thais who wish to enter Phuket but have not yet been tested for Covid-19 will get a rapid test free of charge, while foreign visitors will have to pay THB500, authorities said on Wednesday (April 21).

On Tuesday, the Phuket Public Health Office announced that anyone entering the province from April 21-30 must provide a two-dose vaccination certificate or a Covid-free certificate. This earlier announcement stated that the test for the Covid-free certificate must have been taken up to 72 hours before entering the province. It added that those who do not have a certificate could pay THB300 for a rapid test at Phuket Airport or the Tha Chatchai border checkpoint.

However, on Wednesday the province announced that the test will be free of charge for Thais, with the cost covered by the National Health Security Office (NHSO). However, foreigners entering the province without a certificate must pay THB500 for the test.

The checkpoint at the airport will screen travellers from every province, while the Tha Chatchai checkpoint will screen only those who have travelled from 17 red zone provinces.

“Every entrant must check in on the MorChana platform and register their entry at www.gophuket.com,” said the announcement. “This measure covers everyone except goods delivery staff who do not stay overnight in the province. They must display a certificate issued by their employers at the Tha Chatchai checkpoint.”

Published : April 21, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000064

Absconding wild bull loses interest in cow, returns home

The wild bull that escaped Surat Thani’s Khao Sok National Park to have relations with a cow raised at an oil-palm plantation nearby has reportedly returned home.

The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) posted on its Facebook page that officials had been monitoring the bull round the clock.

On Tuesday, DNP officials reported that the bull was not interested in the cow “romantically”, it just wanted to hang out.

The owner had let the cow out of its pen, and the bull followed it for a little while before heading back to the forest.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000062

Two deaths, 1,458 new Covid-19 cases confirmed

The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Wednesday reported 1,458 new cases and two deaths, bringing total Covid-related fatalities in Thailand up to 110.

The fatalities included a 56-year-old woman in Bangkok and a 32-year-old man in Nonthaburi.

The woman had been suffering from several chronic conditions, including high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. She had tested positive on April 17 and died two days later.

The man, meanwhile, had been suffering from allergies and had come in contact with another Covid patient on April 4. He began developing symptoms on April 8 and succumbed to the virus on April 19.

Of the 1,458 cases confirmed, the highest number or 365 were in Bangkok, 134 in Chiang Mai, 80 in Chonburi and 69 in Nonthaburi.

They also included four who had flown from overseas – two Thai nationals from Japan and Malaysia, and two Japanese people from their home country.

Meanwhile, 413 patients have recovered and discharged from the hospital.

As of Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand had risen to 46,643. Of these, 43,397 had been contracted locally, including 20,814 who were found via proactive testing, while 3,246 were returnees.

So far, 29,371 have recovered and been discharged, 17,162 are still in hospitals and 110 have died.

According to Worldometer, as of 11am on Wednesday, the number of confirmed cases globally had risen to 143.54 million (up by 824,975), 121.89 million of whom have recovered, 18.6 million are active cases (109,498 in severe condition) and 3.05 million have died (up by 13,905).

Thailand ranks 106th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 32.53 million, followed by India 15.6 million, Brazil 14.05 million, France 5.33 million and Russia 4.71 million.

In the last 24 hours, 33,122 people had received their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 13,279 got their second shot, bringing the total number of doses administered in Thailand up to 712,610.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000061

Eggs with heart-shaped logo prove the laying hens were happy

The Department of Livestock Development has started issuing certificates to farmers who do not cage their laying hens in a bid to promote animal welfare and offer consumers healthier alternatives.

Sorawit Thaneeto, director-general of the department, said the certification stamp is shaped in a heart and the letter Q to signify kindness and quality.

“The stamp will be given to farms where the laying hens are happy, healthy and can lead their lives naturally resulting in the production of quality eggs,” he said.

He added that the green in the stamp represents nature, while gold signifies quality and happiness.

“Farmers can display the stamp on their products to show the farm has been inspected. There is a great demand for cage-free eggs overseas, like in Hong Kong,” he said.

He said since mid-February, four farmers with a total production capacity of about 150,000 eggs daily have received the stamp.

“Those interested can seek certification or more information at Livestock Development offices nationwide. Consumers, meanwhile, can purchase these cage-free eggs at all markets and department stores,” he added.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000060

35 million doses of 2-3 alternative vaccine brands to be procured: PM

The working team responsible for procuring alternative Covid-19 vaccines will purchase an additional 35 million doses of 2-3 different brands, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Wednesday, vowing that all procured vaccines will be distributed and administered by December this year.

Prayut said the working team resolved to seek 35 million doses of alternative vaccines in addition to approximately 65 million doses that the government has already ordered.

The team was formed on April 11, with clinical Prof Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, adviser to the government’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, appointed as chairman of the committee.

The other 17 members are government officials from the Public Health Ministry, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the Food and Drug Administration and the Private Hospital Association.

Prayut explained that of the 35 million doses of alternative vaccines, the private sector led by the Board of Trade would procure about 10 million to 15 million doses, which would help the government save money.

“In the next phase, related government agencies must distribute and administer all procured vaccines by December this year,” Prayut added.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000059

Phuket hopes to overcome virus crisis and welcome foreign tourists from July

The next two months are crucial for Phuket as it attempts to surmount the current Covid-19 crisis and see the government’s widely welcomed “sandbox” scheme for the tourism hub go ahead in July as planned.

Governor Narong Woonciew meanwhile voiced confidence that his province would be able to deal with the health crisis.

Under the scheme, foreign tourists who have been inoculated with a Covid-19 vaccine will be allowed entry into the province from July 1 without having to undergo quarantine.

Phuket authorities wholeheartedly believe the scheme will draw tourists back to the province.

Narong told the press that the province is trying to control and defeat the present Covid-19 wave in order to attract more domestic tourists from May and receive foreign tourists from July.

“We plan to control the new wave of pandemic within the last two weeks of April in a bid to at least draw more domestic tourists to Phuket,” he said.

Narong said 15 per cent of tourists cancelled their trips to Phuket during the Songkran holidays, while 30 per cent suspended their travel and the remaining went ahead and visited the province.

By June 15, some 70 per cent of Phuket’s population must be vaccinated, he said.

Presently, more than 100,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been used to inoculate 22 per cent of the population.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic took Thailand by storm, Phuket earned tourism revenue of more than Bt470 billion a year.

Other top destinations such as Pattaya, Krabi, Phang-nga, Surat Thani and Chiang Mai will also later be opened to international tourists once more people have been vaccinated and preventive measures are firmly in place.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : The Nation

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000057

Ministry aims to vaccinate 300,000 medical professionals within this week

The Public Health Ministry aims to provide 600,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to 300,000 medical professionals, who work in close contact with the patients, by April 25 to cope with rising infections, permanent secretary Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit said on Wednesday.

“The vaccine will come from the 1 million doses of Sinovac vaccine that we received recently. This will drive up the total to more than 1 million doses since we started inoculations in late February,” he said.

“On April 24 another 500,000 doses will arrive. The ministry is also finalising a deal to import 1 million more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

Kiattiphum said the ministry has also ordered 2 million Favipiravir tablets after the number of domestic infections has been rising.

“Before the new wave we had around 700,000 tablets in stock, which was enough to treat patients back then,” he said. “However, the new wave has driven up demand to over 20,000 tablets per day, prompting the ministry to order more tablets. We are also looking into buying the Remdesivir drug to inject those in risky groups.”

The Public Health Ministry urged hospitals to reserve an adequate supply of medicines and equipment as the treatment of patients infected with the UK B 1.1.7 Covid-19 strain will require at least 14 days of continuous treatment instead of 10 days compared to patients with the normal strain.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000055

Family taken to hospital after infected father, denied treatment, has to wait 3 days for ambulance

A family of five living in Soi Saimai 85 in Bangkok’s Saimai district were transported to hospital for treatment after contracting Covid-19 from an infected father, who was forced to stay home awaiting an ambulance for three days after being denied immediate treatment by a private hospital because it had reportedly run out of beds.

The father, aged 58, reportedly took a test at the private hospital on April 13 after one of his friends whom he had dinner with on April 8 informed him that he had tested positive for Covid-19. When the father’s test came back positive, the hospital told him to wait at his house and they would send an ambulance to pick him up.

However, when three long days passed and no ambulance showed up, the father finally decided to send five of his family to Bhumibol Hospital for a test. They were all found to be infected.

An ambulance finally arrived from the private hospital at 2pm on Tuesday to pick up the father for treatment.

At 9.30pm that day, Mongkutwattana Hospital director Dr Rianthong Nanna sent an ambulance to collect the rest of the family so they could be treated at his hospital.

Rianthong reportedly said he had contacted Ekaphop Leuangprasert, assistant to Saimai Pheu Thai Party MP Anudit Nakhonthap, to send a sanitation unit to disinfect the patients’ house and surrounding houses in the neighbourhood to prevent the infection from spreading.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000048

DSI submits documents to NACC in Orange Line investigation

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Tuesday submitted 1,940 pages of documents to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to follow up on an investigation into a case involving possible corruption in the bidding for construction of the Bt128-billion Orange Line western train section.

Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for Protection of the Thai Constitution, had earlier submitted a petition to the DSI to investigate the change in the terms of reference (TOR) in the bidding criteria by the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) after the bidding envelopes were sold, which could possible obstruct certain bidders.

One of the bidders, Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC), had filed a lawsuit at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases against the MRTA, claiming that the bid conditions had been altered at the request of Italian-Thai Development despite opposition from fellow bidder BTSC.

The ensuing legal dispute saw the bidding scrapped altogether on February 3 for the 13.4-kilometre line, which is to run from the Thailand Cultural Centre to Bang Khun Non.

The DSI has since then been gathering information from all related parties including the MRTA, the State Enterprise Policy Office, the Budget Bureau, BTSC and Italian-Thai Development before concluding that MRTA executives had abused their power as government officials, in violation of Criminal Code Section 1 (16) of the Organic Act on Offences by Government Officials or State Agencies, and sections 11 and 12 of the Organic Act on Offences Relating to the Submission of Bids to State Agencies, leading it to submit the case to the NACC for further investigation.

Published : April 21, 2021

By : THE NATION