Friday Covid Update: 14,575 new cases and 114 deaths
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration recorded another 14,575 new Covid-19 cases and 114 coronavirus-related deaths. In the latest and most severe wave of the virus in Thailand, first recorded on April 1, the CCSA has reported 438,844 confirmed infections. Over the past week, daily infections have exceeded 10,000. The uptick was expected by the CCSA due to the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Out of the new cases recorded today, 1,072 were found in correctional facilities. The latest wave of infections spread to Thailand’s overcrowded prisons, infecting more than 40,000 inmates. A Covid-19 outbreak was recently reported at a prison in the Isaan province Khon Kaen. Hundreds of inmates tested positive for the virus. Officials are now actively testing the prison population and are setting up field hospitals on the prison grounds.
Other updates…
- More venues and places were ordered to close in Bangkok. Parks, sports fields and courts, museums, hair salons, barbershops, and tattoo studios must close until August 2. The new order imposed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is in addition to the tight restrictions set by the CCSA, including curfews, other closures, and travel restrictions.
- A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 2 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are just about as effective against the highly transmissible Delta variant as it is against the Alpha variant. The AstraZeneca vaccine is being produced locally by Siam Bioscience and is the primary vaccine used in the Thai government’s nationwide immunisation campaign.
- Expats ages 60 and above in Bangkok and surrounding provinces can now register from an AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine appointment at the Bang Sue Grand Station Central Vaccination Centre. Walk-in services are offered to foreign residents who are 75 years old and older from 9am to 4pm. Click HERE to register.
