Delta remains the dominant variant of Covid-19 in Thailand, found in 74 out of 77 provinces, and there is still no sign of the Lambda variant from South America, according to the Department of Medical Sciences.
Director-general Supakit Sirilak said a random survey of 2,547 Covid-19 patients from July 24 to 30 found that 1,993 (78.2%) had the Delta variant (first found in India), 538 (21.2%) had Alpha (first detected in Britain) and 16 (0.6%) had Beta (first identified in South Africa).
The samples included 1,229 patients in Bangkok, of which 1,059 (86.2%) were infected with Delta, 170 (13.8%) Alpha and no one had Beta.
In other provinces the survey covered 1,318 patients, of which 934 (70.9%) had Delta, 368 (27.9%) Alpha and 16 (1.2%) Beta.
The Delta variant was found in 74 provinces. Beta existed only in the South, with the largest number of cases in Yala, 14, and one case each in Songkhla and Trang provinces, Dr Supakit said.
The Lambda variant from South America had not yet been detected in Thailand, he said.
The Lambda variant of the SARS-Cov-2 virus belongs to the C.37 lineage, which was designated a Variant of Interest on June 14 this year, according to the World Health Organisation.