A novel infectious respiratory disease was recognized in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) in December 2019. In February 2020, the disease was named “coronavirus disease 2019” (COVID-19). COVID-19 became a pandemic in March 2020, and, since then, different countries have implemented a broad spectrum of policies. Thailand is considered to be among the top countries in handling its first wave of the outbreak—12 January to 31 July 2020. Here, we illustrate how Thailand tackled the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly the effects of public health interventions on the epidemiological spread. This study shows how the available data from the outbreak can be analyzed and visualized to quantify the severity of the outbreak, the effectiveness of the interventions, and the level of risk of allowed activities during an easing of a “lockdown.” This study shows how a well-organized governmental apparatus can overcome the havoc caused by a pandemic.

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A novel infectious respiratory disease was recognized in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) in December 2019. In February 2020, the disease was named "coronavirus disease 2019" (COVID-19). COVID-19 became a pandemic in March 2020, and, since then, different countries have implemented a broad spectrum of policies. Thailand is considered to be among the top countries in handling its first wave of the outbreak -- 12 January to 31 July 2020. Here, we illustrate how Thailand tackled the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly the effects of public health interventions on the epidemiological spread. This study shows how the available data from the outbreak can be analyzed and visualized to quantify the severity of the outbreak, the effectiveness of the interventions, and the level of risk of allowed activities during an easing of a "lockdown." This study shows how a well-organized governmental apparatus can overcome the havoc caused by a pandemic.

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Marine debris has become a global problem affecting coral health around the globe. However, the photophysiological responses of corals to marine debris stress remain unclear. Therefore, this study firstly investigated transparent and opaque plastic bag shading and fishing nets directly contacting the coral. Photosynthetic performance, pigment content, symbiont density, and calcification rate of a branching coral Pocillopora acuta and a massive coral Porites lutea were investigated after 4 weeks of exposure to marine debris. The results show that the maximum quantum yield of PSII significantly decreased in P. lutea with all treatments, while P. acuta showed no effect on the maximum quantum yield of PSII from any treatments. Transparent plastic bag shading does not affect P. acuta, but significantly affected the maximum photochemical efficiency of P. lutea. Photoacclimation of cellular pigment content was also observed under opaque plastic bag shading for both species at week 2. Fishing nets had the strongest effect and resulted in P. acuta bleaching and P. lutea partial mortality as well as a decline in zooxanthellae density. Calcification rate of P. acuta significantly decreased with treatments using opaque plastic bag and fishing net, but for P. lutea only the treatment with fishing net gave any observable effects. This study suggests that the sensitivities of corals to marine debris differ strongly by species and morphology of the coral.

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