A record-equalling 178 people died from Covid-19 on Sunday, taking the toll in the third wave past 5,000, while another 17,970 people caught the coronavirus, the Public Health Ministry reported on Monday morning.
The death toll matched the previous daily record of 178 set on Friday, when the highest new daily caseload -- 18,912 -- was also recorded.
Greater Bangkok – comprising the capital and the five surrounding provinces of Samut Sakhon, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom – logged 122 of the 178 fatalities, with the remainder reported in 26 other provinces.
Five people – two in Bangkok and one each in Pathum Thani, Roi Et and Suphan Buri – died at home.
Of the 17,970 new cases logged nationwide on Sunday, 17,795 were in the general population and 175 among prison inmates.
Upcountry cases rise
The capital region accounted for 6,604 new cases, with the remaining 11,180 distributed among 71 other provinces.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) warned of a surge of new cases in 71 provinces, with their combined cases outnumbering those in Greater Bangkok as they continued to absorb patients returning to be treated in their home provinces.
“The number of infected persons in those provinces will continue to rise,” CCSA assistant spokeswoman Dr Apisamai Srirangson said.
Most new transmissions in northeastern provinces have been imported from Greater Bangkok but health workers could handle the situation, she added.
Eleven cases were also detected in recent arrivals in the country -- seven from Myanmar, two from Cambodia and one each from the United Kingdom and Qatar.
Accumulated woe
Since April 1, when the third wave of Covid-19 began, 604,421 people have contracted the novel coronavirus, 391,815 of whom have already recovered.
Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 633,284 Covid-19 cases, 419,241 of whom recovered.
The accumulated death toll stood at 5,077 in the third wave and 5,168 from the beginning of the pandemic early last year.
