Thursday Covid Update: 20,902 new cases; provincial totals

20,902 new Covid-19 cases were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Around half of those cases are in central Thailand. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the CCSA has reported at total of 989,859 Covid-19 cases. The latest and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, first recorded on April 1, has accounted for 960,996 of those infections.

There are 301 coronavirus-related fatalities reported by the CCSA today, raising the pandemic’s death toll in Thailand to 8,586.

In the 24-hour period since the last count, the CCSA has recorded 22,208 recoveries. There are now 205,946 people receiving treatment for Covid-19. The number of active cases is on a downward trend as the number of recent recoveries exceeds the number of new cases.

Bangkok remains the epicentre with 4,392 new cases today. In surrounding provinces, Samut Sakhon reported 1,739 new cases and Samut Prakan reported 937. The infection rate is still high in Chon Buri, which includes Pattaya, with 1,322 new Covid-19 cases today.

Out of the new cases reported today, 148 were found in correctional facilities. More than 40,000 inmates at Thailand’s overcrowded prisons have tested positive for the virus over the past few months.

Provincial totals by the Thai government’s news bureau…