AS MANY as 53 children younger than five years of age and among them newborn infants were today (Apr. 12) reported to have contracted Covid-19 in Nonthaburi province, which is just north of Bangkok, TV Channel 7 said this evening.
Of today’s nationwide Covid tally of 19,982 cases and 101 deaths, with this being the third day in a row the daily death toll has risen over a hundred, Nonthaburi logged 943 cases with an additional 54 people testing positive via ATK and awaiting confirmation of infection.
Among those infected in Nonthaburi today 545 were female and 389 male, with six being foreigners from Myanmar, Cambodia, South Africa and members of hilltribes.
A total of 796 or 85.22 percent had symptoms while 138 or 14.78 percent were asymptomatic.
The provincial Public Health Office said as many as 870 showed low Ct value which indicates high risk of spreading the infection.
Ct, short of cycle threshold, is a value that emerges during RT-PCR tests, the gold standard for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In an RT-PCR test, RNA is extracted from the swab collected from the patient. It is then converted into DNA, which is then amplified. Amplification refers to the process of creating multiple copies of the genetic material — in this case, DNA. This improves the ability of the test to detect the presence of virus. Amplification takes place through a series of cycles — one copy becomes two, two becomes four, and so on — and it is after multiple cycles that a detectable amount of virus is produced, The Indian Express explained.
Put simply, the Ct value refers to the number of cycles after which the virus can be detected. If a higher number of cycles is required, it implies that the virus went undetected when the number of cycles was lower. The lower the Ct value, the higher the viral load — because the virus has been spotted after fewer cycles.
A background check shows that 728 or 77.94 percent had been vaccinated with 19 having got one jab, 319 two jabs, 346 three jabs, 44 four jabs while 206 were not vaccinated.
Sadly 53 infants and young children have got infected in this province with 13 being from newborn to one year of age, 12 one year old, 9 two years old, 8 three years old and 11 four years old. Moreover 66 schoolchildren and 11 other students have also got infected.
Where exposure to the infection is concerned, 120 caught it from other family members, 24 through the community, 28 got infected at work and 17 caught it from friends. They are spread across almost every occupation and among them are four monks too.
Nationally, today’s 19,982 new cases took the cumulative confirmed total since Jan. 1 to 1,702,419 and since the start of the pandemic 3,925,854.
Today’s 101 fatalities raised the overall death toll to 26,289.
Another 28,057 patients were cured taking total recoveries since Jan. 1 to 1,493,672 while 237,399 are still undergoing treatment.
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Children getting their Covid jabs. Photos: NNT
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