Covid Sunday UPDATE: 3,382 new infections and 17 deaths

This morning the public health ministry has announced 3,382 new cases of Covid-19 and 17 new deaths across Thailand. The daily numbers, again, are oddly statistically consistent with the daily toll around 1,900 – 2,500 for the past month (with few variations). Although the daily totals, even without the prison numbers, are slowly creeping up, mostly as a result of clusters in Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Chon Buri around workers accommodation and high-density housing areas.

460 infections announced in the past 24 hours came from the Thai Prison system.

The Thaiger will report all provincial totals just after lunch.

• In Chon Buri province, including Pattaya, 91 new infections of Covid were announced this morning. The new clusters are centered around industrial areas and factories in the outskirts of the main city Chon Buri area with many workers who live in Phan Thong.

The Chon Buri Governor is ordering the temporary closure of a company in the Nong Mai Daeng Sub-district of Chon Buri city zone. The estate will be closed for at least 2 weeks. All workers have been quarantined and not allowed to leave while they are checked for Covid-19. The province continues increased testing and a cluster at a factory and migrant worker camp dormitory for the factory in a nearby district.

• The so-called South African (B.1.351) strain of Covid-19 has been detected among a cluster of infected illegal migrants in Narathiwat province, Deep South of Thailand on the Malaysian border.

The Covid-19 Network Investigations group reports that they found the B.1.351 variant in samples the Thai public health ministry collected from the cluster in Tak Bai, a coastal district, right on the border, 10 days ago.

Although research is ongoing, it is considered that most of the current vaccines have reduced efficacy against the B.1.351 strain.

SOURCE: FRB | Bangkok Post