There were 32 new Covid-19 deaths over the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 518, and 4,887 new cases, raising the total to 93,794, the Public Health Ministry reported on Thursday.
The record surge in daily new cases included 2,835 infections reported in prisons, while new cases outside detention facilities totalled 2,052. The previous daily high was 2,839 cases announced on April 24.
The number of fatalities fell below the record daily high of 34 Covid-19 related deaths reported on Wednesday.
Total cases in the third wave of Covid-19 from the beginning of last month rose to 64,891. Of these, 33,189 patients had recovered, including 1,572 who were discharged on Wednesday.
Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said later during the daily briefing that 17 of the 32 new fatalities were in Bangkok, three in Nakhon Ratchasima province, two each in Pathum Thani and Chiang Mai and one each in Surin, Sara Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Phayao, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Phetchaburi and Phuket.
Twenty-six of them were men and six women. They were 38-93 years old.
Eighteen of them had hypertension and 14 diabetes. Other chronic diseases they suffered included high cholesterol, renal disease, heart disease, liver disease, lung disease, cancer and obesity.
Fifteen of them caught Covid-19 from infected relatives. Three visited parties. Six went to crowded places. Five visited risk provinces and two worked at a market and on a train. The death toll in the third wave of Covid-19 was at 424.
He also addressed the high number of cases revealed among prison inmates.
Dr Taweesilp said that inmates underwent mass testing and the reported number was the total, not a daily figure. Excluding cases in prisons, there were 2,036 new local infections in 63 provinces. Of these, 1,439 were confirmed at hospitals and 597 were detected via mass testing.
The most cases, 1,069, were in Bangkok, followed by 194 in Samut Prakan, 105 in Pathum Thani, 78 in Nonthaburi, 73 in Surat Thani, 57 in Samut Sakhon, 56 in Chon Buri, 41 in Prachuap Khiri Khan, 39 in Ayutthaya and 30 in Rayong.
"The outbreak in Bangkok tends to be stable but not in decline. The number of patients there who are severely ill and dependent on ventilators is rising," Dr Taweesilp said.
Serious outbreaks in the capital were in Din Daeng, Watthana, Lat Phrao, Phra Nakhon, Ratchathewi, Suan Luang, Dusit, Klong Toey, Chatuchak and Laski districts.
Meanwhile, outbreak control was likely in Pathumwan, Sathon, Promprap Sattruphai and Samphanthawong districts, he said.
Fourteen provinces had no cases in 24 hours. They were Lop Buri, Trat, Tak, Nan, Kalasin, Chumphon, Phayao, Uttaradit, Nong Khai, Amnat Charoen, Mae Hong Son, Nong Bua Lam Phu, Mukdahan and Satun.
There were 16 new imported cases - from Cambodia (2), the United States (1), Myanmar (1), Malaysia (2), Indonesia (1), Iran (1), Laos (2) and India (6). They included six Thai returnees who sneaked in from Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Laos.
Dr Taweesilp said the government was concerned about illegal border crossing. Officials had arrested 16,239 illegal migrants so far this year, and 197 in the past 24 hours alone, he said.
Of the 93,749 total cases, 60,615 (64%) had recovered and 32,661 were in hospital, including 1,209 severely ill patients and 406 dependent on ventilators.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 750,656 in 24 hours to 161.08 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 13,826 to 3.34 million. India had 362,406 new cases for a total of 23.70 million and 4,126 new deaths for a toll of 258,351.
