CCSA English Briefing
on Monday, 7 February 2022
(Unofficial translation)
1. Summary of the Thai briefing br Dr. Sumanee Watcharasin
1.1 On 4 February 2022, Thailand's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of Sinovac and Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccines for people 6 years of age and older, expanding vaccine options for children from previously only Pfizer.
1.2 Globally, the number of new COVID cases worldwide is on a downward trend, including in Germany, the US, France, the UK, India, with the exception of Russia that's still slowly rising.
1.3 Domestically, new cluster with high number of high-risk contacts has been found in Maha Sarakham Province. The Provincial Communicable Disease Committee has made an announcement seeking cooperation from Maha Sarakham residences to refrain from sharing a meal amongst group of people in any gathering activity including a meeting, seminar, religious activity, funeral, wedding etc., and effective from 5 February 2022 until further notice.
2. Update on the arrival of international travelers
2.1 During 1 – 6 February 2022, 30,218 travelers entered Thailand. 7,617 travelers entered via the Test and Go, or Quarantine Exemption Scheme. 18,617 entered via the Sandbox scheme, and 3,987 entered with alternative quarantine. Out of the total number of travelers, 1,081 tested positive for COVID-19, or 3.58%.
2.2 The majority of international travelers come from these top ten countries of origin, namely, Russia, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Kazakhstan, UAE, Singapore, and Sweden.
2.3 All travelers are advised to ensure that all related documents used for Thailand Pass application and for entering Thailand (e.g. vaccine certificate and COVID recovery certificate) must be in English language or a bilingual document with English being one of the languages, in order to avoid inconvenience during their traveling
3. Recap on Thailand Pass
Thailand Pass has a two-step approval process. Once the application is registered, the SHA Extra Plus hotel will approve the first step, after the payment for the hotel was made, including the RT-PCR test on day 1 and day 5 - where applicable. The second step is for the Department of Disease Control to verify the vaccine certificate. Once verified, the system will automatically send Thailand Pass QR code to the applicant.
4. General Situation
4.1 The number of new cases is 10,470 cases with 8,711 new recoveries. The number of accumulated cases stands at 2,507,471 cases. There are 12 new fatalities, with the accumulated total at 22,303 cases. Of the 12 fatalities, 9 cases (75 %) are the elderly, and 3 cases (25 %) have congenital diseases. CCSA will continue to prioritise vaccination for these vulnerable groups.
4.2 The current top ten provinces with the highest daily number of COVID-19 cases are Bangkok (1,391), Samut Prakarn (962), Chonburi (545), Nonthaburi (474), Phuket (436), Nakhon Pathom (274), Ratchaburi (265), Nakhon Ratchasima (263), Nakhon Si Thammarat (213), and Khon Kaen (208).
5. Vaccination progress
5.1 Yesterday (6 February 2022), Thailand administered 216,538 doses of vaccines, which increases the accumulated number of vaccinations to over 117 million doses.
5.2 Currently, 75.5 per cent of the population has received their first dose, 70.4 per cent has been vaccinated with two doses, and 22.5 per cent have received a booster dose.
5.3 There are seven non-hospital vaccination sites in Bangkok for all nationalities aged
18 years and above. For the vaccination site at Central World, registrants may visit vaccinecenter.kcmh.or.th to make their appointment. For other vaccination sites at Thai PBS, Thanya Park, Central Rama III, Central Pinklao, Central Eastville, and Robinson Lat Krabang, registration is via QueQ mobile application.
6. Long COVID symptoms
The Ministry of Public Health has reported earlier that about 10 - 20% of COVID-19 patients in Thailand suffered from a Post COVID-19 condition known as "Long COVID" after their recovery, which may occur from the body's reaction or side effects of drugs administered to the patients during treatment, with some conditions linger beyond the period of treatment. Age, obesity, and daily steroids used are among the factors that increase the prevalence of Long COVID symptoms.
According to statistics, the symptoms will take about 6 months to a year to recover from, depending on each person. Anyhow, people who have received COVID-19 vaccine have less chance of getting long COVID symptoms as the vaccine provides protection against the condition.
Full CCSA English briefing can be viewed here >>> https://fb.watch/b0JxmC-Flb/
Source: CCSA, Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Public Relations Department, and Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)