31 Covid fatalities, 2,631 new cases

31 Covid fatalities, 2,631 new cases

Health workers take blood samples for testing for Covid-19 at Klong Toey market in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya)
Health workers take blood samples for testing for Covid-19 at Klong Toey market in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya)

There were 31 new Covid-19 fatalities and 2,631 new cases confirmed on Thursday, the Public Health Ministry reported on Friday morning.

There were 2,442 new infections dected in the general populace and 189 in prison inmates.

Over the previous 24 hours, 2,493 Covid-19 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals.

Since April 1, around when the third wave of Covid-19 began, there have been 143,116 Covid-19 patients, 93,271 of whom have recovered.

Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 171,979 Covid-19 cases.

The death toll was at 1,083 in the third wave of Covid-19 starting in April and 1,177 from the beginning of the pandemic early last year.

Apisamai Srirangson, spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said in the afternoon briefing that the 31 new fatalities were aged 17-97 years. Sixteen were male and 15 female. There were 20 deaths in Bangkok, four in Samut Prakan, two in Chiang Mai and one each in Kamphaeng Phet, Chanthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Roi Et and Uthai Thani.

Nineteen of the fatalities had hypertension. Ten caught Covid-19 from family members and seven visited outbreak areas.

The 2,631 new cases over the past 24 hours included 2,391 local infections and 51 imported cases. Of the local infections, 1,306 were confirmed at hospitals and 1,085 via mass testing.

Bangkok logged the most cases, 824, followed by 460 in Pathum Thani, 202 in Samut Prakan, 198 in Phetchaburi, 153 in Nonthaburi, 101 in Chon Buri, 73 in Samut Sakhon, 41 in Songkhla, 36 in Nakhon Pathom and 34 in Trang.

Dr Apisamai said Bangkok had 52 Covid-19 clusters in 32 districts including two new ones – a construction workers’ camp in Chatuchak district and Hua Pa community in Suan Luang district.

Pathum Thani had many Covid-19 cases at a chicken processing plant in Lam Luk Ka district, where 854 of the 2,073 workers tested positive for Covid-19.  At the province's Simummuang market, also in Lam Luk Ka, 1,569 of 22,412 workers tested positive.

In Samut Prakan, there were Covid-19 clusters at a bleaching factory where 27 of 415 workers tested positive and an export-oriented furniture factory where five of 186 were confirmed with the disease, she said.

"The Department of Disease Control was concerned about factories where workers’ living quarters were packed and they usually gathered and shared places and cups like what happened at construction workers’ camps. The disease was found on coolers and workers partied after work. They shared cigarettes,” Dr Apisamai said.

The 51 imported cases were arrivals from Ivory Coast (1), Equatorial Guinea (1), Sudan (1), Egypt (2), the United Arab Emirates (2), Cambodia (37 Thais including 11 illegal returnees who were gamblers and online administrators), Malaysia (6) and Myanmar (1 illegal Thai woman arrested in Mae Sot district of Tak).

Dr Apisamai urged local officials and people near the border to watch out for illegal returnees, saying they could carry Covid-19 mutant variants and jeopardise people in the country.

As of Thursday, 50,105 patients were at hospitals, including 1,182 critically ill and 376 dependent on ventilators.

Global Covid-19 cases rose by 471,294 in 24 hours to 172.89 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 10,296 to 3.72 million. US had the most cases at 34.17 million, up 17,821, and the most deaths at 611,611, up 574. India was second with 28.57 million cases, up 131,371, and 340,719 deaths, up 2,706.

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