Ramathibodi Hospital’s Centre for Medical Genomics has discovered Thailand’s first BA 2.75 case.
The centre revealed on Tuesday night that it was found from a sample collected on June 28 in Trang.
The Medical Sciences Department completed the whole exome sequencing and uploaded the data to GISAID’s database on Monday. It is a mutation of the Wuhan variant.
The BA 2.75 subvariant emerged for the first time in India and has spread around the world. Scientists have since collected 338 samples for the whole exome sequencing.
They found BA 2.75 could likely evade immunity provided by earlier infection or vaccines. Patients are advised to use monoclonal antibodies according to the subvariant they have been infected with.
Most interestingly, BA 2.75 spread in India in June but it is expected to be overcome in a “short amount of time”.
Scientists assume it is because India had experienced BA.2 infections before so the immunity built up as a result might keep the disease from spreading.
Two economic teams were set up by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday to tackle the economic crisis.
One, a special economic crisis management committee, was formed to implement guidelines for government agencies to tackle the crisis and alleviate people’s suffering as soon as possible.
The committee, chaired by Prayut, is also responsible for implementing a plan to cope with the economic crisis effectively in line with government policy.
Meanwhile, a subcommittee was also set up for monitoring and analysing impacts from the crisis.
The subcommittee, chaired by the Finance Ministry permanent secretary, is also responsible for proposing a plan to tackle the crisis and lessen the public’s financial burden to the special committee on economic crisis management.
Prayut Chan-o-cha
National Security Council secretary-general Supot Malaniyom said the two teams would be important tools for the government to tackle the economic crisis “effectively”, including rising product prices and inflation.
The subcommittee is preparing a proposal to tackle increasing fuel and product prices, as well as financial measures to prevent further damage to the economy, he said.
Supot expects the PM to hold a meeting with the two economic teams soon.
“One common way to solve this problem is energy saving, which will help both the country and ourselves,” he added.
Calling all book lovers: the last week of this month presents an opportune moment for you as two major events have been scheduled from July 22 to 31 in Bangkok, coinciding with the long holidays to celebrate His Majesty the King’s birthday on July 28.
One event is Books & Beers 2002 at Singha Complex on New Petchaburi Road (next to MRT Phetchaburi station) from July 22-31 between 11am and 9pm.
Organised under the concept “No Book I Cry, No Beer I Die”, more than 50 publishers will showcase their latest collections as well as specially priced books including novels, light novels, documentaries, translated literature, children’s books and more. Expected to join the event are Matichon Books, Saengdao Books, Gypzy Group, Thai Quality Books, Sofa Publishing and Arrow Multimedia.
Event participants will also enjoy a “Book Talk” mini seminar, a mini concert, and art and craft activities “designed for every family member”.
The other event is hosted by Naiin Bookstore under the name “Sanam Arn Len” (playground for readers) at Samyan Mitrtown Hall on Rama IV Road (near MRT Samyan station). The event will be held from July 22-31 between 10am and 9pm.
The highlight is a “Book Buffet”, where shoppers can buy fabric bags priced at 199 baht each and fill them with as many books in the buffet zone as they can carry. There is no limit on how many bags you can buy, but the time is limited at 20 minutes per round.
The event organiser advised shoppers to arrive at the buffet zone at least 30 minutes before the time on their queue card, as customers next in line will be moved up in case the one before them does not show up.
Books outside the zone will carry a special discount of 15 per cent for the third one purchased, 20 per cent for the fourth and 70 per cent on the fifth.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry has unveiled its “ABC strategy” to revive the tourism industry, aiming to promote comprehensive income distribution and boost the country’s competitiveness globally.
The ministry announced its strategy on Tuesday after industry representatives joined Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn in a meeting with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday.
At the meeting, they reported the progress of the government’s stimulus campaigns and planned tourism promotions for the rest of the year.
The ABC strategy comprises three key elements:
A: Accelerate travel/tourism spending. Thailand will focus on extending the period of stay for foreign visitors by waiving visa fees until the end of 2022. Applicants for tourist visas or visas on arrival will also receive extended stays from 30 and 15 days, respectively, to 45 days. The measure is believed to help increase tourist spending and attract more visitors under the “Visit Thailand Year 2022-2023” campaign planned for the rest of 2022 and next year.
B. Booster. This aims to stimulate and boost both domestic and international travel by getting airlines to increase seat capacity, introduce new flight routes and expand chartered flights to secondary tourism provinces to ensure comprehensive income distribution. The ministry’s aim is for Thailand by the end of 2022 to achieve 50 per cent of domestic and international seat capacity of 2019, or before the Covid outbreak.
Other booster campaigns include organising trade shows and roadshows overseas to attract potential visitors, as well as extending existing tourism stimulus campaigns until the end of the year. These campaigns are, for example, We Travel Together, Tour Tiew Thai, and tax breaks for companies organising seminars or exhibitions in targeted tourism provinces.
C. Cost-effective. This strategy aims to help tourism businesses reduce their operation costs and facilitate business expansion through a series of state funded measures.
Examples are granting tax breaks to hotel operators who have invested in building renovations and branch expansions, and implementing new technology to increase operational efficiency; extending the tax loss carry forward period from five years to ten years; reducing land and building tax for hotel operators in steps from 75 to 25 per cent between 2023 and 2025; and relaxing regulations in hiring migrant labourers, important manpower for the tourism industry.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Monday that the prime minister promised to discuss the feasibility of these measures with related agencies and make suitable adjustments.
Two of four people died after being electrocuted inside a sewer at a condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Na district on Tuesday.
Three electrical workers – Direk Intarangsee (37), Warawut U-Nath (23) and Thosapol Faksawat (26) – were electrocuted and lost consciousness while installing an electrical system inside the sewer at the condominium near Wat Bang Na Nai.
Condo security guard Sarima Wakachi (37) was also electrocuted and lost consciousness when he went into the sewer to help the three workers.
Police officers, medical staff and rescuers took more than 20 minutes to bring all victims back up to the surface before sending them for medical treatment.
However, Pol Lt-Colonel Yuthasin Karin, deputy superintendent of Bang Na Police Station, said Thosapol and Warawut died.
He added that the Department of Health and police officers will survey the scene and summon related parties for an investigation.
People who use an antigen test kit (ATK) and see one stripe appear as a result may have already been infected with Covid-19, but the virus count is still low, therefore they should get a test again in 2-3 days, Dr Anan Jongkaewwattana strongly advised on Tuesday.
In a Facebook post, Anan, who is the director of the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology’s Veterinary Health Innovation and Management Research Group, said that after getting vaccinated the body responds to Covid-19 more quickly, resulting in the ATK being unable to detect the virus and showing a negative result, or one stripe.
“To confirm the result, people should get tested again in 2-3 days. There are many reports of people seeing two stripes in a follow-up test after one in the first test,” he said.
Those who tested negative via ATK for the first time may have a low virus count, but they can still spread Covid to others, Anan added. Therefore, they should remain in self-isolation until the result is confirmed in a follow-up test.
“This also applies to symptoms. Once infected, fully vaccinated people have symptoms such as a cough and fever for a short period and then get better,” he pointed out.
“This does not mean they are free of the virus. They could still spread it to others. It is highly recommended to take an ATK test again a few days after you get better from these symptoms,” he advised.
Bangkok’s Triam Udom Suksa Phatthanakan School will return to online learning from next week after as many as 910 students tested positive for Covid-19, the school announced on Tuesday.
The school, located in Suan Luang’s Soi Phatthanakan 58, said it would shut down on Friday (July 22) to clean its classrooms and premises. From July 25-27 and August 1-5 it will switch to online learning via Microsoft Teams. (July 28 and 29 are public holidays on the occasion of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s birthday.)
Triam Udom will resume onsite studies on August 8. All students must submit ATK test results on August 7 to their homeroom teachers to confirm they are not infected before returning to school.
“During the shutdown, we urge students and families to refrain from visiting risky areas to prevent Covid-19 from spreading,” said school director Jintana Srisarakham.
After resuming onsite learning, the school will implement disease control measures as announced by the Public Health Ministry, including making face masks mandatory in classrooms where social distancing cannot be effectively maintained, Jintana added.
On Wednesday Thailand recorded 2,886 confirmed Covid cases and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours, while 2,029 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital. The number of cumulative cases in the country since January 1 stands at 2,342,419.
The Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday (July 20) that over the past 24 hours, 2,886 Covid-19 patients have been admitted to hospitals, two of whom have arrived in Thailand from abroad.
The death toll has risen by 19, while 2,029 patients have recovered and discharged from hospitals.
The number of cumulative cases in the country since January 1, 2022, stands at 2,342,419.
The country’s total caseload from Covid-19 stands at 4,565,854 – 4,511,625 of whom have recovered, 23,179 are still in hospitals and 31,050 have died.
Separately, another 5,709 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 11,895 their second shot and 44,231 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 140,827,531.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 569.85 million on Tuesday, 541 million of whom have recovered, 22.45 million are active cases (39,853 in severe condition) and 6.39 million have died (up by 1,591).
Thailand ranks 27th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 91.53 million, followed by India with 43.8 million, Brazil with 33.4 million, France with 33.17 million and Germany with 29.99 million.
China has not imposed any restrictions on its citizens travelling to Thailand due to legalisation of cannabis by Bangkok, China’s embassy clarified in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
The Chinese government response came following reports in some media outlets that Beijing has announced restrictions on travelling to Thailand due to the cannabis legalisation, as a result many Chinese tour operators had to cancel trips to Thailand.
“Since the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, the Chinese government has asked tour operators to refrain from organising trips overseas until now,” the post read, adding that there had been no cancellation of overseas trips.
Earlier, Pheu Thai Party leader Chaturon Chaisang wrote a message on his Facebook page on July 14, saying that cannabis legalisation would become negative soft power, which would affect foreigners’ view of Thai culture.
He also claimed that at least eight countries, including China, had warned their residents and tourists travelling to Thailand that possessing or importing cannabis is illegal in their countries.
He added that China has cancelled a schedule to allow Chinese tourists to travel to Thailand.
A 34-year-old woman who stole chairs from a Man Utd-Liverpool match claimed that she has a mental illness and likes to collect things.
The police and Vinij Lertratanachai, CEO of match organiser Fresh Air Festival, held a press conference on Monday.
Vinij said that he found some seats and equipment had disappeared after the match and reported the matter to police at Hua Mark Police Station on Saturday. He checked the surveillance footage and found the suspect and another man were involved in the alleged theft.
He said the suspects had used transport equipment similar to those used by his staff so no one would suspect them. He also thanked the police for catching a suspect within 36 hours.
The suspect reportedly had hired a private shipping company to take those chairs to Chonburi province on Saturday.
Police found her at a building in Thung Khru district in Bangkok and seized four team chairs and 13 spectator chairs.
Police also seized a two-metre Jackson Wang vinyl sign and 100 pieces of cloth used for covering chairs. The total damage was estimated at around 413,000 baht.
Police said the suspect claimed that she suffered from a mental illness and liked to collect things. She reportedly told police that she had bought the ticket for the match on her own to plan how to steal the chairs.
Vinij, however, discounted her claims, arguing that she had good education and a good job. He said her behaviour was suspicious as these items were transported several times and the suspect had tried to destroy evidence. He said it needed to be investigated of if the suspect was acting at the behest of someone else.
Police charged the suspect with “committing a theft with more than two people and using a conveyance to facilitate in committing the offence, to take away such thing or escape from arrest”.
Prayut Chan-o-cha
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