Alex wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 1:36 pm I don't think they're exaggerating about the numbers, it just isn't clear to me what (if anything) they want people to do.

At this point, Covid has become endemic and there's broad immunity, so just letting it spread without any special measures and precautions looks like the most sensible approach to me.

Yobbo wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 2:09 pm Viruses mutate!

Ryan754326 wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 7:54 pm

Yobbo wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 2:09 pm Viruses mutate!

Viruses always have, and always will mutate, but if they had a tendency to suddenly mutate into much deadlier diseases, then humans would have all died off a long time ago.

I don’t see what more we can do at this point. Covid is never going to disappear, and we didn’t all spend our lives worrying that the flu, or any other relatively mild disease, would mutate into something much worse.

If I was old and feeble, I might take a little extra precaution, but I’m not, so I’ll keep on living the way I always have.

I’ve had covid twice, after being double vaxxed. I’m not convinced that I would have avoided it with a third jab, or that I’d be dead if I hadn’t been vaxxed at all.

Alex wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 1:36 pm I don't think they're exaggerating about the numbers, it just isn't clear to me what (if anything) they want people to do.

At this point, Covid has become endemic and there's broad immunity, so just letting it spread without any special measures and precautions looks like the most sensible approach to me.

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 6:01 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 1:36 pm I don't think they're exaggerating about the numbers, it just isn't clear to me what (if anything) they want people to do.

At this point, Covid has become endemic and there's broad immunity, so just letting it spread without any special measures and precautions looks like the most sensible approach to me.

They don't bring the news to come up with a solution, they just bring you the news.

If a wave of influenza or another virus would stretch healthcare it would be news too.

Alex wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 7:33 pm


I obviously meant the Thai doctors who, as per the article, were "sounding the alarm". Not the news outfit that reported it, duh.

This wave doesn't "stretch healthcare" by any stretch of the imagination. A single hospital here in Bangkok has reported that it's at capacity. Maybe they had reduced their capacity for Covid patients earlier, as many hospitals have done.

My take on this is, just get on with it.

Ryan754326 wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 7:54 pm

Yobbo wrote: ↑Sun May 28, 2023 2:09 pm Viruses mutate!

Viruses always have, and always will mutate, but if they had a tendency to suddenly mutate into much deadlier diseases, then humans would have all died off a long time ago.

I don’t see what more we can do at this point. Covid is never going to disappear, and we didn’t all spend our lives worrying that the flu, or any other relatively mild disease, would mutate into something much worse.

If I was old and feeble, I might take a little extra precaution, but I’m not, so I’ll keep on living the way I always have.

I’ve had covid twice, after being double vaxxed. I’m not convinced that I would have avoided it with a third jab, or that I’d be dead if I hadn’t been vaxxed at all.

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 7:51 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 7:33 pm


I obviously meant the Thai doctors who, as per the article, were "sounding the alarm". Not the news outfit that reported it, duh.

This wave doesn't "stretch healthcare" by any stretch of the imagination. A single hospital here in Bangkok has reported that it's at capacity. Maybe they had reduced their capacity for Covid patients earlier, as many hospitals have done.

My take on this is, just get on with it.

I don't know what the capacity of the system is, but an extra 376 people every day as they quote will stretch the system in days, maybe a week or two.
They're talking about admissions, not out patient treatments

Health systems have been 'optimized', not for peak capacity but for minimal costs during an 'average day'. So a non average day or two will stretch the system, a month like this will flood the system.

Because we're cheap Charlie's when it comes to healthcare.

Alex wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 10:59 pm

Kammekor wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 7:51 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Mon May 29, 2023 7:33 pm


I obviously meant the Thai doctors who, as per the article, were "sounding the alarm". Not the news outfit that reported it, duh.

This wave doesn't "stretch healthcare" by any stretch of the imagination. A single hospital here in Bangkok has reported that it's at capacity. Maybe they had reduced their capacity for Covid patients earlier, as many hospitals have done.

My take on this is, just get on with it.

I don't know what the capacity of the system is, but an extra 376 people every day as they quote will stretch the system in days, maybe a week or two.
They're talking about admissions, not out patient treatments

Health systems have been 'optimized', not for peak capacity but for minimal costs during an 'average day'. So a non average day or two will stretch the system, a month like this will flood the system.

Because we're cheap Charlie's when it comes to healthcare.

You're speculating, if not outright reaching. That article in the OP is now 5 days old.

As per a Thai news article from TODAY, only 22% of DMS hospital beds in Bangkok are currently occupied, so clearly, the healthcare system didn't get overwhelmed within days and the report from ONE hospital in the OP wasn't representative for all hospitals in Bangkok. Sample size, ONE.

How many hospitals do you reckon Bangkok, or Thailand for that matter, has? How many people are admitted to hospital in Thailand per day, in average? I think you'll find that an extra 376 admissions per day for Thailand as a whole amounts to very little. Most cases are mild to moderate, so if they're admitted to hospital, it's usually not due to medical necessity (Bangkok's community isolation centers and home isolation scheme no longer exist!). Context is everything.

Today's article I mentioned:

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-medic ... -patients/