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https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000181

Covid-19 patients occupying nearly half of hospital beds nationwide

Covid-19 patients have taken up 19,386 out of 40,524 available hospital beds nationwide, or 47.8 per cent, Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the governments Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said on Saturday.

“This data came from the Department of Medical Services as of midnight April 22,” he said. “Keep in mind that the occupancy rate may fluctuate on daily basis depending on the hospitals’ bed arrangement.”

According to the department’s data, the hospital beds are classified into six categories based on types of room, as follows:

– AIIR or Airborne Infection Isolation Room: 409 out of 704 beds were occupied, or 58.1 per cent

– Modified AIIR rooms: 1,009 out of 1,688 beds were occupied, or 59.8 per cent

– Isolated rooms: 5,857 out of 9,206 beds were occupied, or 63.6 per cent

– Cohort ward: 8,894 out of 22,435 beds were occupied, or 39.6 per cent

– Cohort ICU: 3,129 out of 6,333 beds were occupied, or 49.4 per cent

– Hospitel (hotels serving as hospitals): 88 out of 158 beds were occupied, or 55.7 per cent

“In Bangkok and surrounding areas, 11,075 beds were used by Covid-19 patients of the total 16,422 hospital beds available, or 67.4 per cent,” he added.

“Judging from current occupancy rate of ICU rooms, hospitals in metropolitan areas will be able to accept new ICU patients for another 10 days, while hospitals elsewhere will have capacity for 20 days.”

Published : April 24, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000180

418 Covid-19 patients suffer from severe symptoms, over 100 on respirators

The Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday that of the 22,327 Covid-19 patients hospitalised, 418 had severe symptoms, while 113 patients were on respirators.

“Bangkok has reported the highest number of severe patients at 45, followed by nine in Samut Prakan, eight in Chonburi and six in Nonthaburi,” said the department.

On Friday, Bangkok reported 740 new cases in the province, driving cumulative cases up to 5,515, the highest in Thailand.

The department reported 2,839 new infections on Saturday, the highest for a 24- hour period in the country since the outbreak last year.

“Of these, 2,523 were from testing of suspected patients, 304 were from active search, and 12 were those coming from foreign countries,” said the department.

“Cumulative cases in the country have risen to 53,022 patients, while 129 people have died, eight in the past 24 hours.”

Published : April 24, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000178

Which provinces will fine you THB20,000 for not wearing a face mask?

In response to the third wave of Covid-19 in Thailand, some provinces have ordered people to wear face masks in public. The penalty for violating this order is a fine of up to THB20,000, according to the Communicable Disease Act.

The list of provinces that have issued the mask-wearing order includes Kanchanaburi, Prachinburi, Phetchaburi, Suphanburi, Ayutthaya, Samut Sakhon, Lopburi, Samut Prakan, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chonburi, Saraburi, Trat, Nonthaburi, Suratthani, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat Narathiwat, Pattani, Phang-nga, Phuket, Ranong, Satun, Songkhla, Yala, Sukhothai, Tak, Phetchabun, Uttaradit, Lamphun, Yasothon Nong Khai, Ubon Ratchathani, Chaiyaphum, Maha Sarakham, Mukdahan, Sisaket, Surin, Udon Thani, Loei, Amnat Charoen, Buriram and Nakhon Phanom

Published : April 24, 2021

By : The Nation

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000173

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.

Published : April 24, 2021

By : The Nation

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000171

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.

Published : April 24, 2021

By : The Nation

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000170

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.

Published : April 24, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000169

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.

Published : April 24, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000168

“Covid-19 cases and deaths hit a new high”

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.

Published : April 24, 2021

By : The Nation

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000167

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.”

Published : April 24, 2021

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40000162

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.

Published : April 24, 2021

By : THE NATION