Thailand logged 256 more Covid-19 fatalities and 15,972 new cases over the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Monday morning.
There were 15,692 cases in the general population and 280 among prison inmates.
Over the previous 24 hours, 17,281 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) later said 79 deaths had been logged in Bangkok and 61 others in the neigbbouring provinces of Samut Sakhon Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom.
Bangkok led new transmissions with 3,771 cases, followed by 1,055 in Samut Prakan, according to the CCSA.
The 16 imported infections were led by six entrants from Myanmar, five of them Thais. Another three cases were imported from Cambodia, and one each from Denmark and the United Kingdom.
CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin reiterated a call for high-risk groups to be vaccinated and named pregnant women as a prime concern for public health authorities.
It was the second time in less than a week that the coronavirus task force mentioned this vulnerable group.
The number of Covid-positive pregnant women jumped from 819 in July to 1,170 in the month of August (through Saturday).
"Pregnant women have been a main target of the virus attack," he said.
The Public Health Ministry is aiming to inoculate 500,000 pregnant women, but only 7.5% of them have so far received the first jab. The rate was far behind that of the 11 million senior citizens aged 60 or older, half of whom had received at least the first injection, he added.
The government will ease some restrictions for Bangkok and 28 other provinces in the dark-red zone from Wednesday. Dining-in will be permitted in eateries, but some food operators expressed disappointment with the new guidelines, deeming them impractical to follow.
Key to the complaints was the requirement for all service staff to have received two doses of vaccine and be tested with antigen test kits every 5-7 days. The new guidelines also require dine-in customers to show proof of vaccination and a negative test result before entering restaurants.
Dr Taweesilp on Monday called for understanding, saying health authorities had to take public safety into account when easing restrictions.
"We have to protect all lives, including customers and those close to them," he said.
Screenshot from https://epidemic-stats.com/coronavirus/thailand
The number of Covid cases in Thailand is currently 176,137, down from a peak of 214,786 on Aug 8, according to epidemic-stats.com.
Since April 1, around when the third wave of Covid-19 began, there have been 1,161,200 Covid-19 patients, with 974,418 recoveries to date.
Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 1,190,063 Covid-19 cases, 1,002,746 of whom have so far recovered.
The death toll was at 11,305 in the third wave and 11,399 from the beginning of the pandemic early last year.
The high of daily Covid-19 cases was at 23,418 reported on Aug 13 and the record high of new daily fatalities was at 312 reported on Aug 18.
