Tuesday Covid Update: 4,662 new cases and 36 deaths

4,662 new Covid-19 cases were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, raising Thailand’s total since April 1, in the current and most severe wave of the virus, to 225,652 infections. The CCSA reports that 36 more people infected with Covid-19 have died.

Only 10 of the new cases reported today were found in correctional facilities, a downward trend after tens of thousands of inmates at Thailand’s overcrowded prisons tested positive for the virus.

With the increase in local transmissions over the past week, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha made a sudden decision over the weekend to set additional restrictions in “dark red” zones for the next 30 days.

More information will be released this afternoon following the CCSA’s daily briefing.

Other updates…

• Bangkok reported its first case involving the Beta variant of Covid-19. The patient had contacted the mutated strain of the virus, which was originally detected in South Africa, from an infected person in the southern province of Narathiwat near the Malaysian border.
• 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered this week, the Public Health Ministry announced.
• Phuket is setting up 7 Covid-19 testing centres for tourists staying on the island under the “Sandbox” scheme. The test will cost 2,800 at the centres. Tests in the hospitals cost 3,500 baht.

SOURCES: CCSA | National News Bureau of Thailand