Thursday Covid Update: 3,129 new cases and 30 deaths

CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story reported an incorrect number for the confirmed cases at correctional facilities. The correct number is 457 infections.

3,129 new Covid-19 cases and 30 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration. Since April 1, the most severe wave of Covid-19 infections in Thailand, the CCSA has reported 178,861 cases.

457 of the new cases confirmed today were found in correctional facilities, an increase in infections among inmates over the past few days. The recent wave of the virus spread to more than a dozen correctional facilities, infecting more than 30,000 inmates.

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

Other updates…

• PM Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that Thailand will reopen to foreign travellers in 120 days. The Phuket “Sandbox,” set to start on July 1, is a pilot project for the national reopening initiative, he says. The prime minister says a top priority is to get the public vaccinated against the coronavirus.
• More than 100 Phuket hotels have passed the Safety and Health Administration Plus, or SHA+ standard, and are ready to reopen under the “Sandbox” tourism model in 2 weeks.
• The Public Health Ministry is expected to present a proposal to the CCSA tomorrow to ease restrictions and allow restaurants to resume selling alcohol. Once a proposal is made by the ministry, the CCSA will begin discussions on whether to lift the restrictions.
• Thailand’s Medical Sciences Department director-general says he expects the Delta variant of Covid-19, which was first found in India, will become the dominant strain of the coronavirus in Thailand as it is more infectious than the other strains.

SOURCES: CCSA | National News Bureau of Thailand