Covid chaos shatters public faith in govtDo we think we will come out of the current lockdown, better, stronger, together? Public confidence is low that the government will be able to handle the outbreak effectively while trust is almost nil. The Covid-19 hotlines offer a good example. During those five days, Kunlasup Wattanaphon, who was at high risk because he had been in contact with a confirmed case, tried unsuccessfully to receive treatment from hospitals. In a video clip which was widely circulated after his death, Kunlasup said he had breathing difficulties but could not find any hospitals to diagnose him so that he could be admitted.

A woman seeks a Covid-19 test in Don Muang district, Bangkok, on Monday. The decision was made by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) to speed up the coronavirus treatment process for patients in community isolation waiting for medical care, said Apisamai Srirangson, assistant spokeswoman for the CCSA. Somsak Akksilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services (DMS), said a total of 30,036 Covid-19 patients in Bangkok have volunteered to self-isolate at home. The Public Health Ministry previously allowed the public to purchase ATKs from pharmacies so they could conduct self-tests at home. Attaporn Limpanyalert, deputy secretary-general of the NHSO, said 80% of Covid-19 patients are asymptomatic and can receive medical care at home.

Life in the crossfire of Venezuela's slumsThe neighborhood of Cota 905 in Caracas shares a name with the gang that runs it with impunityCARACAS - A Venezuelan soldier takes cover behind an armored vehicle. The scene played out this month in the slum of Cota 905, which shares a name with the gang that runs it with impunity. In the early morning hours, shots rang out and members of the Cota 905 gang took to the streets ordering inhabitants to stay at home and cautioning police not to enter. Then, the police surrounded four of the slums, including Cota 905. Caracas slum residents have long been left to their own devices.

One of them is a dhamma centre located in the Muang district, which will be closed for 14 days. Members of the dhamma centre are not allowed to travel outside the province and all gatherings are prohibited. At the same time, district officers are ordered to examine all dhamma centres in their neighbourhood and carry out random Covid-19 screenings. Last year, when the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) issued an order to temporarily close 34 locations, temples and dhamma centres were not included in the announcement. The Chiang Mai dhamma centre is not the only place where a new Covid-19 cluster has been found.

By 8pm, early birds had already started to line up in front of a temple for testing the next morning. The free testing could only accept 900 walk-ins per day for a week. Even if you test positive (false-negative result), the process will help screen out those who are actually infected," he said. However, those at high risk should contact local clinics and hospitals for free rapid testing. Those who test positive should be better informed of the guidelines otherwise, when they get worse, they will be left to themselves.

Sinovac may be only choice for manyA medical officer provides a Covid-19 jab with the Sinovac vaccine at Bang Sue Grand Station. Most appear to be pinning their hopes on the mRNA vaccines which are not yet available in Thailand. For everyone else, especially those who reject the Sinovac vaccine out of their belief that this Chinese-made product is inferior in quality or a C-grade vaccine, as the media opposition politicians and celebrities keep saying, it's a grim business. Of the vaccines procured by the government -- Pfizer and Moderna, both mRNA vaccines, AstraZeneca, a viral vector vaccine, Sinovac and Sinopharm, both inactivated vaccines -- Sinovac is said to be the least effective against the Delta variant. According to him, about 700,000 medics were mostly fully inoculated with Sinovac vaccine and only 880 were infected with Covid-19.

Macron pressured to apologise for nuclear tests in French PolynesiaPresident Emmanuel Macron (centre) is making his first official trip to French Polynesia. PAPEETE: French President Emmanuel Macron faced pressure to apologise for the devastating impact of decades of nuclear testing as he kicked off his first official trip to French Polynesia. - 'Highest thyroid cancer rates' -Macron will be "encouraging several concrete steps" regarding the legacy of nuclear tests, with the opening up of state archives and individual compensation, a French presidential official who asked not to be named said. "We're expecting an apology from the president," said Auguste Uebe-Carlson, head of the 193 Association of victims of nuclear tests. One of three French territories in the Pacific, French Polynesia has a population of around 280,000 over a huge swath of island groups spanning an area comparable in size to Western Europe.

Wuhan tests all citizens after Delta variant foundChina's Wuhan city will test all of its 12 million residents for the coronavirus, an official said on Tuesday, after the place where the virus emerged in late 2019 confirmed its first domestic cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant. - REUTERSPublished: 4 Aug 2021

India: on the frontline of climate changeFlooding is common during India's monsoon season but climate change is making the monsoon stronger, according to a report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. NEW DELHI: Swathes of India are battling deadly floods and landslides after heavy monsoon rains, just the latest example of how the vast country is on the frontline of climate change. A glaciologist who investigated the site told AFP the catastrophe was "clearly a fallout of climate change and in itself a tell-tale of our future". But climate change is making the monsoon stronger, according to a report from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in April. But scientists say climate change may be making lightning more frequent.

Almost half of Thais trust social media for Covid info: pollA pregnant woman receives a Covid-19 jab at Bang Sue Railway Central Station, where walk-in vaccination services for vulnerable groups - Thai nationals aged 60 and over, women at least 12 weeks pregnant and anyone weighing 100kg or more - are available from July 22 until July 31. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)Medical personnel and other experts provide the most reliable sources of information about the Covid-19 pandemic, but almost half the population trust social media, according to the result of an opinion survey by the Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, or Suan Dusit Poll. The poll was conducted online during July 19-22 on 1,691 people throughout the country to compile their opinions on the flow of information about Covid-19, with respondents allowed to choose more than one answer to each question. Asked what sources of information they thought were reliable, 65.30% chose doctors and medical personnel; 59.75% cited academics, researchers, experts and influencers; and 46.98% social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Asked how they assessed the flood of information, 43.99% said they were confused, 40,75% fairly confused and 15.26% not confused.

The girl who was all 'eyelashes and legs'I was rightly admonished by a reader for not mentioning model Twiggy in last week's column concerning the "Swinging Sixties" in London. Born Leslie Hornby, being so thin she was nicknamed "Twigs" at school and among friends long before she became well-known. "At 16, I was a funny, skinny little thing, all eyelashes and legs," she said in an interview. Through the regular references in Private Eye, Neasden developed such a reputation that just the mention of the place by any comedian would probably get a laugh. After one court decision went against him he came out with the wonderful "if that's justice, then I'm a banana".

Bureaucracy still bafflesAll the requirements of bureaucracy in this country have not changed in more than 100 years. The district asked my three brothers and my sister to show up at the same time. Jason A JellisonGive Covid jabs to everyoneRe: "Ministry launches vaccine drive for elderly foreigners," (BP, July 23). My point to the ministries is that there are a lot of elderly foreigners living elsewhere in the country besides Bangkok. I ask meat-eaters, will you please adopt a less selfish diet so your own children can have a future?

No 'one-size fits all' model suited for lockdowns, experts sayThailand is struggling with soaring Covid-19 infections with more than 14,000 new cases a day. Known in Thailand as the "Wuhan model", some sectors are sceptical whether imposing such measures would work here. Public support neededChina has received mixed messages from the Wuhan lockdown, according to Mr Yang. For lockdown measures to work, first the public must understand what the restrictions are and why they need to cooperate, he said. "But with all that said, you can't still use the Wuhan or Guangzhou model as a whole in Thailand.

Iconic moment: Charles, Prince of Wales, kisses his bride, Lady Diana Spencer on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 29, 1981, after their wedding. PARIS: Their fairy-tale marriage 40 years ago this month was dubbed the "wedding of the century". But for Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer it would all end in tears, recriminations and tragedy, with the after-effects still being felt by the British royals today. Prince Charles then laid the gold ring on her left hand and at 12:20 pm precisely, AFP wrote: "Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are married." While Diana would have become queen upon Charles' accession to the throne, Camilla will merely be queen consort.

Tokyo: As the Thailand Boxing Association (TBA) seeks redemption after an embarrassing Rio 2016 campaign, the sport is fighting to restore its reputation. Four Thai fighters will attempt to bury the ghosts of 2016 Games where the national boxing team returned home empty-handed. The quartet are Chatchai-decha Butdee (men's 57kg), Juthamas Chitrapong (women's 51kg), Sudaporn Seesondee (women's 60kg) and Baison Maneekon (women's 69kg). Thitisan Panmod, probably Thailand's best prospect in boxing, was forced to pull out of the Games due to a knee injury. As part of moves to make Olympic boxing more similar to the professional fight game, at Rio pros were allowed to compete for the first time.