H1N1 Scaremongering by the Thai Government.

The Thai government is trying to scare the Thai people into believing the current H1N1 virus could be the death of so many people.

They continue to release idiotic statements through the media and it seems that people high up in the government are probably the main culprits.

Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kajornprasart said on Monday, “The government plans to buy 10 million face masks and distribute them to people to help curb the H1N1 flu outbreak.”

I have said before and this is directly from the World Health Organization’s website.

Using a mask incorrectly, may actually increase the risk of transmission, rather than reduce it. If masks are to be used, this measure should be combined with other general measures to help prevent the human-to-human transmission of influenza.

Australia
The Australian Government, in concert with other agencies, recommends that sick people wear a mask as well as wash their hands regularly. They agree with the UK and the United States and feel that the general public does not gain any protection from wearing masks during daily activities because it gives a false sense of security. People in general forget, or do not even realize, that H1N1 flu can be picked up from surfaces contaminated from droplets expelled while sneezing and again a mask may not stop small particles.

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta USA (CDC)
Does not recommend face mask usage for daily activity. There are two excellent detailed tables about wearing facemasks, if you click on this link you can browse through them.

So why is the Thai government going to buy 10,000,000 masks and give to people who will probably only enhance their chances of contracting the virus.

The deputy prime minister then went on to say: He personally believed it was now time to temporarily close all schools so as to control the spread of influenza A(H1N1).

This man must be totally insane, or cannot read English or hasn’t cared to speak to health experts. It is his opinion! Bend me over and you know what!

The deputy prime minister chairs a committee on dealing with the disease.

Now this is just so scary that this man saying things that are just so way off centre is the main man for a committee on the virus. God help Thailand.

On Monday the deputy prime minister suggested that all schools should suspend their classes now to prevent the spread of the disease.

"The suspension should last two to four weeks during which major cleanup operation would be conducted," he said, "After that, the schools can resume the class and arrange makeup classes later".

Fuc* me! Close for two to four weeks. What for? The virus lives for 2 – 8 hours on a surface. Why close for 4 weeks?

Many Thai ministers need to keep their overly silly opinions to themselves and stop scaring the wit out of the Thai people; they need to let 'health experts' deal with media releases. They need to only present the facts that are known on the disease and not innuendo.

I do agree that the Thai people need to be informed, but not through a scaremongering campaign. Make the everyday person understand the very basic things they can do to increase their chances of not contracting the virus.

I just hope that a miracle happens and the PM and DPM and other ministers stop letting the verbal dribble pouring out of their mouths continue to flow.

Brunty