July 5, 2021 Thai Enquirer Summary COVID-19 News The data for July 5th Covid-19 infection just came out and Thais are advised to brace themselves for possibility of the situation getting worse. Total New Infections - 6,166 Community Infection - 6.082 Prison Infection - 84 Total New Death - 50 Total New Recovery - 2,534 The local community infection has surpassed the 6,000 mark for the 1st time in history of Covid-19 outbreak. The data for the average for 1st 5-days of July suggests that over the past 3 months the numbers are rising fast From May 1-5 Total New Infections - 1,949 Total New Deaths - 23 For June 1-5 Total New Infections - 3,001 Total New Deaths - 36 From July 1-5 Total New Infections - 5,986 Total New Deaths - 51 Missing partying? Well, there are options for you even if Krystal & Emerald Thonglor, the 2 pubs/bars that has been the root cause of the 3rd wave are closed. These 2 pubs was frequented by supposedly Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob, who was also infected with Covid-19. Parties are still allowed in the area, so claims MCOT news early this morning. MCOT early today made the allegation that private parties continues into the wee hours of the day at ‘CU_E EKK_M_I One needs to fill in the blanks to find out where that is The allegations were made by a HiSo who reportedly knows things on his Instagram posting. Talking about parties, well Thonglor/Ekkamai area is taking the lead from the leaders of the country who were partying in Phuket after the ‘Phuket Sandbox’ opened up on July 1st. Pictures of the party has been going viral for the past few days with people suffering while ministers enjoying life and flaunting every law put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. Talking about Phuket, well Thai Smile airlines flight number WE201 on July 1st from Bangkok to Phuket has seen infection on Seat K-40 It has been advised for anyone and everyone near that seat to get tested (but then no hospitals are testing these days, so try your luck). As of July 4th a total of 1,755 international visitors have entered Thailand via the ‘Phuket Sandbox’. These includes Thais returning home and foreign tourists or permanent residents. While all this continues Thailand’s overall ranking in the global context continues to rise, in a negative way as the number of cases continues to rise. A bulk of the new cases are now with the DELTA (India) variant that spreads 40% faster than the Alpha (UK) variant The DELTA coronavirus variant is surging rapidly across Bangkok and now accounts for 70% of new infections in the Thai capital, according to a study by Chulalongkorn University’s Center of Excellence in Clinical Virology. The variant is highly contagious and will likely lead to more infections, Yong Poovorawan, the center’s director, said in a Facebook post. Thailand’s ranking of new infections puts the country on the 15th spot while overall infection levels has put Thailand on 65th position. With the death rates on the rise, Thailand continues to face shortage of hospital beds and beds for intensive care units (ICU) and ventilators. As of yesterday A total of 2,147 people were in ICU A total of 616 people were on life support (ventilators) The country is set to receive a total of 1.5 million doses of Pfizer in July/August and a decision was made to inoculate the elderly and pregnant people in the country. The decision has seen a lot of commotion with social media buzzing of having the frontline workers being vaccinated by Pfizer #ฉีดPfizerให้บุคลากรการแพทย์ (inoculate the doctors with Pfizer) is trending as top hashtag on Twitter. The hashtag also shows that there is a talk that SinoVac is not effective that’s why they want Pfizer to be the key vaccine for the doctors. SinoVac was the 1st vaccine that the frontline workers were given when the vaccines started to arrive in February this year. Another 20 million doses of Pfizer is set to arrive in October 2021 Debate is who to give these 1st allocation of 1.5 million doses and the 3 options were 12-18 years old Those who are older/pregnant and other high risk groups Frontline workers, as the 3rd vaccine would be a booster for this group The decision was to give to older/pregnant people especially those in the area where there is major outbreak. The procurement of vaccines comes as there continues to be delays in vaccination program. As of Saturday (the data for June 4th will be available today), only 98,605 doses were given. For the 1st 3 days of July 743,199 doses were given This data put Thailand’s total inoculation well behind schedule as the plans of inoculating 50 million people with 100 million doses by December 31st 2021 looks even more difficult to achieve. The country needs to inoculation 493,531 doses per day for the remining 181 days, a number that is 21,403 doses more than the best day of inoculation in Thailand seen on June 8th @ 472,128 doses. All this comes as 2014 coup leader Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha has set a goal of opening the country’s borders by October 14th 2021. He announced on June 16th that within 120-days the country’s borders will open. With just about 100 days remining, the country needs to inoculate the population at a faster pace. This does not stop this administration from going ahead with their plans to open other islands as new sandboxes. The inoculation drive with ‘SinoVac’ continues to remain in force for these islands. Prof Dr Yong Poovorawan, director of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, has come out to warn of further surges of infections in the capital due to the Delta variant, which is responsible for 70% of new symptomatic COVID-19 cases in Bangkok, and it is hard to track the origin. Dr Yong explained that the current 3rd wave of the outbreak is being dominated by the Alpha (UK) variant which, transmits 1.7 times faster than the Wuhan strain. The first cluster in the third-outbreak was centred on Bangkok’s upscale entertainment district of Thong Lor. The Alpha variant is believed to have spread from Cambodia. The Delta (Indian) variant is steadily making inroads as the current outbreak persists. It is 1.4 times more transmissible than the Alpha strain. The study also shows that 70% of new patients are infected with the Delta variant and it is not always possible to tell where people caught it. The study predicts the Delta variant will surge, especially in the capital. Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has come out to debunk a rumour that 3 medical experts, namely, Prof Dr Yong Pooworavan, chief of Chulalongkorn University’s Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology, Prof Dr Kulkanya Chokephaibulkit, director of Siriraj Institute of Clinical Research, and Dr Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, of the National Communicable Disease Committee, are the ones that decide on the government’s vaccine procurements. Anutin has denied media reports implicating the 3 medical experts in the government’s vaccine procurement decision. He said the 3 medical experts only take care of safety aspect of vaccine use based on academic research. They did not have their say on which vaccine the government should obtain. It is the Ministry of Public Health that has the say. The Prime Minister Operations Centre (PMOC) has announced the management of vaccines, bed shortages and preparation for home-isolation measures. Details are below: While all this continues the country continues to face higher suicide rates. This data shows the rate of suicide per 100,000 people in the country over the past few years until 2020. Less than 1 week after signing an order to shut down all construction worker camps followed the emergence of more clusters in construction camps in Greater Bangkok and adjacent provinces, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha again retracted his own order by signing another order that say essential construction projects can resume, claiming that the sudden halt to some construction projects might pose risks to the public. Such construction projects include: Those which could cause damage to existing structures if they were delayed further or put passers-by and/or nearby communities at risk. Those involving traffic safety, traffic lights, traffic barriers Those of field hospitals, hospitals, and other medical facilities intended for Covid- 19 containment. Political News The opposition camp has threatened to file a no-confidence debate against the government of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha before the House of Representative adjourns. The Pheu Thai Party plans a meeting of MPs tomorrow to decide on whether to file a no-confidence motion or a general debate without a vote. Pheu Thai secretary-general Prasert Janthararuangthong said the opposition could submit a censure motion in both ways, hinting that a censure debate with a vote is more plausible because the opposition has many issues to raise questions including corruption, the problems of vaccine procurement and bed shortages. Picharn Chaowapatanawong, Kao Klai (Move Forward) Party list MP and deputy leader, has hinted that a no-confidence debate might not happen too soon as he said the opposition whip has yet to hold an officials meeting to decide on the matter. Picharn said the opposition may file a censure motion against the government after the 3rd reading of the budget bill for the 2022 fiscal year scheduled at the end of September.