Id |
Subject |
Object |
Predicate |
Lexical cue |
T15 |
0-133 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has to date infected over 60 million people worldwide, causing more than 1.43 million deaths [1]. |
T16 |
134-302 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The latest COVID-19 statistics for the Kingdom of Thailand as of November 25, 2020, were 3942 confirmed cases and 60 deaths in a total population of 66.6 million [2,3]. |
T17 |
303-481 |
Sentence |
denotes |
These numbers translate to 56.25 cases and 0.86 deaths per million inhabitants, respectively, both being puzzlingly low among countries with reliable statistical information [4]. |
T18 |
482-621 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The whole of the Mekong River basin and other Southeast (SE) Asian (SEA) neighbors seems to share Thailand’s low infection and death rates. |
T19 |
622-750 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and China’s Yunnan province all report similarly minimal infection rates (Table 1, Figures 1, 2) [4,5]. |
T20 |
751-863 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Many attribute this low incidence to Thai social and cultural practices promoting an inherent social distancing. |
T21 |
864-964 |
Sentence |
denotes |
When greeting one another, Thais do not shake hands or hug, but use the “wai”, a prayer-like motion. |
T22 |
965-1112 |
Sentence |
denotes |
An outdoor lifestyle combined with mask wearing practices due to pre-existing environmental pollution was already in place before the pandemic [5]. |
T23 |
1113-1440 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Thailand’s efficient, robust, and responsive grassroots-level universal health care system, directed by able scientists, has greatly impacted preventive and treatment measures [6] even with a rising prevalence of pre-existing comorbidities like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension in the whole of the Mekong river region [7,8]. |
T24 |
1441-1589 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Others might argue that Thailand’s low testing frequency (19 tests per 1000 people) might underestimate the magnitude of the COVID-19 situation [3]. |
T25 |
1590-1820 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Here, we need to bear in mind that while all returning residents are tested and quarantined, community testing only occurs when tracing contacts or for symptomatic cases seeking treatment (virtually non-existent in the community). |
T26 |
1821-1975 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Another way of looking at the extent of testing relative to the scale of the outbreak is to ask: how many tests does a country do to find 1 COVID-19 case? |
T27 |
1976-2164 |
Sentence |
denotes |
The WHO has suggested around 10–30 tests per confirmed case as a general benchmark of adequate testing, and the Thai average as of November 5, 2020 was 649.7 tests per 1 positive case [9]. |
T28 |
2165-2245 |
Sentence |
denotes |
With her porous land border crossings, Thailand allows for population movements. |
T29 |
2246-2324 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Furthermore, COVID-19 infection rates have increased in its western neighbors. |
T30 |
2325-2401 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Yet Thailand has not seen any increase in the number of local COVID19 cases. |
T31 |
2402-2549 |
Sentence |
denotes |
After several months without local infections, single-digit indigenous re-emergences have died out spontaneously both in Thailand and Vietnam [10]. |
T32 |
2550-2648 |
Sentence |
denotes |
Elusive locally-shared, genetic determinants may provide an explanation to the above observations. |