Total Covid-19 infections in Thailand surpass 1 million

Thailand’s Public Health Ministry has confirmed that the total number of Covid-19 cases has now passed the 1 million mark. Today, the kingdom reported 19,851 new infections and 240 fatalities in the past 24 hours. According to a Bangkok Post report, 19,526 of the new cases were detected among the general public, with 325 reported in prisons. A total of 20,478 recovered patients have been discharged from hospital in the last 24 hours.

Thailand has now reported a total of 980,847 infections in the country’s most devastating wave of the virus, which began in April. Of those, 768,379 have recovered. In total, the country has had 1,009,710 infections since the start of the pandemic, with 8,826 deaths.

Earlier this week, the PM issued a statement on his Facebook page, saying that if the current restrictions and partial lockdowns in high-risk provinces are effectively implemented, some curbs could be eased from next month. It comes amid growing criticism from sectors affected by the restrictions, with a group of massage businesses filing a class action lawsuit against the government this week.

Meanwhile, cabinet has approved 9.3 billion baht for the procurement of Pfizer doses, with a spokesman saying the government will have procured a total of 100 million doses of various vaccines by the end of the year, including over 30 million Pfizer doses.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post