News Forum - Most Phuket tourists infected with Covid travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan

[Thaiger]

Most tourists who tested positive for Covid-19 when they arrived in Phuket travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan, but particularly Russia, the Phuket provincial governor told the Bangkok Post. The governor says there will be an investigation of why a significant number of infections involved travellers from those countries. Governor Narong Woonciew says that out of about 300 daily diagnoses in Phuket, about 100 were from travellers. The Tourism Authority of Thailand said between July 1, 2021 and January 25, 2022, Phuket went from earning 14 billion baht in tourism to earning 33 billion baht. This shows hope for Phuket’s economy after […]

The story Most Phuket tourists infected with Covid travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan as seen on Thaiger News.

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[Fundok]

Interesting indeed. I wish there was more tangible data especially regarding.the detection of infections on day 5 (which in my view is more likely to find those who got infected on day 1-4 rather than those who slipped through upon entry). So how come those visitors from Russia and Kazakhstan are significantly more often infected than those from other countries? Have they been cheating with their vaccination certificates when applying for the Thai Pass or with the mandatory pre-departure test? Which vaccine did they use?

This report shows that the mandatory testing upon arrival does make sense. It does not provide any further  insight if the test on day 5 has any meaningful purpose other than boosting the local lab industry.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Fundok
Typo

[Stonker]

18 minutes ago, Fundok said:

MInteresting indeed. I wish there was more tangible data especially regarding.the detection of infections on day 5 (which in my view is more likely to find those who got infected on day 1-4 rather than those who slipped through upon entry). So how come those visitors from Russia and Kazakhstan are significantly more often infected than those from other countries? Have they been cheating with their vaccination certificates when applying for the Thai Pass or with the mandatory pre-departure test? Which vaccine did they use?

Those testing positive on day 5 may not necessarily have "slipped rthrough upon entry" or have "been cheating with their vaccination certificates when applying for the Thai Pass or with the mandatory pre-departure test".

A rather simpler explanation would be that they got infected during the flight, since it's not unreasonable that someone who was infected could easily infect those sitting near them, particularly given the known Russian resistance to wearing masks.

If you sit next to someone who's infected for several hours, both unmasked, there's a pretty good chance you'll be infected.

Why particularly those from Russia and Kazakhstan?  Apart from the aversion to masks, very probably because there are more of them flying into Phuket than from anywhere else.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/thailand-sees-32627-travellers-in-2022-russians-top-the-list

 

 

 

[vvdb.fr]

for infections on D+5 you will have to wait until after February 5.

it would also be necessary to look at the positivity rate in relation to the statistics of the country of departure. if travelers are more positive than the population, there is a bias to explain.

there are countries where you can have convenience PCR tests.

There is a famous tennis player who got a positive test for convenience. This tennisman will even have a vaccination of convenience soon !

Edited February 3, 2022 by vvdb.fr
English

[Fundok]

16 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Those testing positive on day 5 may not necessarily have "slipped rthrough upon entry" or have "been cheating with their vaccination certificates when applying for the Thai Pass or with the mandatory pre-departure test".

A rather simpler explanation would be that they got infected during the flight, since it's not unreasonable that someone who was infected could easily infect those sitting near them, particularly given the known Russian resistance to wearing masks.

If you sit next to someone who's infected for several hours, both unmasked, there's a pretty good chance you'll be infected.

Why particularly those from Russia and Kazakhstan?  Apart from the aversion to masks, very probably because there are more of them flying into Phuket than from anywhere else.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/thailand-sees-32627-travellers-in-2022-russians-top-the-list

Fair point. I flew to Phuket with Thai Airways and everyone on the plane was obliged to and in fact did wear masks from what I could see. However, things might be indeed different on planes coming from Russia and Kazakhstan.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Fundok
Typo

[Jason]

I think inevitably, you can only do as much as you can do. Triple vaccinated, wearing a mask, washing hands regularly and trying to get safe spaced seating on the aircraft when possible. Add to that a quality insurance coverage and that's about all we can do. 

[Ben]

Because Russians don’t know what a face mask is.

[Alavan]

4 hours ago, vvdb.fr said:

for infections on D+5 you will have to wait until after February 5.

No.
Phuket Sandbox never stopped, but a PCR test after 5/7 days was reintroduced after 22 Dec.
So you will get cases from Phuket, not other parts of Thailand

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, Fundok said:

Fair point. I flew to Phuket with Thai Airways and everyone on the plane was obliged to and in fact did wear masks from what I could see. However, things might be indeed different on planes coming from Russia and Kazakhstan.

I think that's what most of 'us' would not only expect but take for granted at the moment, but allegedly that's not the case on these flights, particularly the charter flights direct from Kazakhstan to Phuket where passengers change seats to sit down and have a chat with their friends.

It's hard to think of anything more likely to spread Covid between pre-flight tests and the day 5 test.

[harry1]

what its doing is giving ammunition to the authorities to make harder rules, to Europeans and Americans fully vaccinated, with a more effective vaccine giving a harder time onarrival in thailand,the only effective sputnik was in  1957 

[sprez33]

10 hours ago, Stonker said:

Those testing positive on day 5 may not necessarily have "slipped rthrough upon entry" or have "been cheating with their vaccination certificates when applying for the Thai Pass or with the mandatory pre-departure test".

A rather simpler explanation would be that they got infected during the flight, since it's not unreasonable that someone who was infected could easily infect those sitting near them, particularly given the known Russian resistance to wearing masks.

If you sit next to someone who's infected for several hours, both unmasked, there's a pretty good chance you'll be infected.

Why particularly those from Russia and Kazakhstan?  Apart from the aversion to masks, very probably because there are more of them flying into Phuket than from anywhere else.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/thailand-sees-32627-travellers-in-2022-russians-top-the-list

Except that in the US where most flights are flying completely full, and over the last few months food and beverage are being served allowing temporary unmasking of flyers in close proximity, not a single outbreak of Covid has been traced to a flight.  

[Stonker]

23 minutes ago, sprez33 said:

Except that in the US where most flights are flying completely full, and over the last few months food and beverage are being served allowing temporary unmasking of flyers in close proximity, not a single outbreak of Covid has been traced to a flight.  

Well there could be a simple explanation for why none have been traced to a flight in the US:

"None of the four major U.S. airlines has a process for informing passengers if they have been on a flight with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

 

American, Delta, Southwest, and United all have the same position on telling passengers if they shared a flight with someone who tested positive: It’s up to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health departments.."

 

https://fortune.com/2021/02/13/covid-19-airlines-exposure-contact-tracing-cdc/

There are similar reports elsewhere (my bold):

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/04/19/record-flight-covid-19-us-contact-tracing/?sh=4a092fa212f0

 

"... While this happened on the other side of the world, Americans should not assume it could never happen here — or that it hasn’t already happened. But we may never know. The United States has never implemented a contact tracing program for air travelers — even more than a year into the pandemic, and even as new variants pop up around the world.

One likely reason is that the airline industry has pushed back on government-mandated restrictions, while issuing its own research and implementing protocols it claims prove that flying is a low-risk activity."

Those are old reports , but evidently nothing's changed and it's still not an airline responsibility so there's no tracing which explains why "not a single outbreak of Covid has been traced to a flight" in the US:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/26/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests

... and that's despite all the clear evidence and trials, which the US airline industry have managed to play down - at least in the US:

'If all passengers wear face masks throughout the 12-hour flight, the average infection probability can be reduced by ~73%/32% for high/low efficiency masks. If face masks are worn by all passengers except during a one-hour meal service, the average infection probability is increased by 59%/8% compared to the situation where the mask is not removed."

https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/28/4/taab023/6145028?login=false

https://fortune.com/2021/12/22/airplanes-flights-covid-19-omicron-infection-risks/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sprez33]

1 hour ago, Stonker said:

Well there could be a simple explanation for why none have been traced to a flight in the US:

"None of the four major U.S. airlines has a process for informing passengers if they have been on a flight with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

American, Delta, Southwest, and United all have the same position on telling passengers if they shared a flight with someone who tested positive: It’s up to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health departments.."

https://fortune.com/2021/02/13/covid-19-airlines-exposure-contact-tracing-cdc/

There are similar reports elsewhere (my bold):

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/04/19/record-flight-covid-19-us-contact-tracing/?sh=4a092fa212f0

"... While this happened on the other side of the world, Americans should not assume it could never happen here — or that it hasn’t already happened. But we may never know. The United States has never implemented a contact tracing program for air travelers — even more than a year into the pandemic, and even as new variants pop up around the world.

One likely reason is that the airline industry has pushed back on government-mandated restrictions, while issuing its own research and implementing protocols it claims prove that flying is a low-risk activity."

Those are old reports , but evidently nothing's changed and it's still not an airline responsibility so there's no tracing which explains why "not a single outbreak of Covid has been traced to a flight" in the US:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/26/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests

... and that's despite all the clear evidence and trials, which the US airline industry have managed to play down - at least in the US:

'If all passengers wear face masks throughout the 12-hour flight, the average infection probability can be reduced by ~73%/32% for high/low efficiency masks. If face masks are worn by all passengers except during a one-hour meal service, the average infection probability is increased by 59%/8% compared to the situation where the mask is not removed."

https://academic.oup.com/jtm/article/28/4/taab023/6145028?login=false

https://fortune.com/2021/12/22/airplanes-flights-covid-19-omicron-infection-risks/

Regardless, even if there's no formal tracing system by the airlines themselves, it would be relatively easy to trace an outbreak to a flight if one did happen.  

Also, very few people get their medical information from the NYTimes, Fortune or Forbes.

[MikeV]

I seriously doubt most people from Russia are presenting genuine test results to depart. 

[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

21 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Phuket’s hospitality industry.

Shouldn't that be "hospital industry"?

[Stonker]

16 hours ago, sprez33 said:

Regardless, even if there's no formal tracing system by the airlines themselves, it would be relatively easy to trace an outbreak to a flight if one did happen.  

Also, very few people get their medical information from the NYTimes, Fortune or Forbes.

Agreed, it would be "relatively easy", but if neither the airlines or the CDC do so, who would?

... and I'd suggest this isn't "medical information", but news about a clear lack of any medical information that all other western countries and many others make readily available.

[HiuMak]

On 2/3/2022 at 12:21 PM, Thaiger said:

Most tourists who tested positive for Covid-19 when they arrived in Phuket travelled from Russia and Kazakhstan, but particularly Russia,

From Russia with Love