There were 13 more Covid-19 fatalities and 7,926 new cases registered during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry said on Monday morning, with Omicron now accounting for more than a third of new infections.
This compared with 12 coronavirus-related fatalities and 8,511 new cases reported on Sunday morning.
Sumanee Wacharasin, hazard communication director of the Department of Disease Control, said in the afternoon briefing that the 13 new fatalities were between the ages of 30 and 89 years old.
“Ten out of 13 fatalities were unvaccinated or insufficiently vaccinated people,” she said.
Bangkok logged no new deaths while two were reported in the adjacent province of Nakhon Pathom.
Other central plain provinces further from the capital recorded four more deaths – in Chon Buri (2), Kanchanaburi (1) and Trat (1).
The Northeast had one new fatality in Loei.
The South reported three more deaths – Yala (2) and Satun (1).
The North saw three new fatalities in Phitsanulok, Lampang and Uttaradit.
The 7,926 new cases included 7,731 cases in the general population, 195 among prison inmates and 412 imported cases. Of the local Covid-19 infections, 7,229 were confirmed at hospitals and 90 via mass testing.
Chon Buri had 767 new cases, followed by 693 in Samut Prakan, 534 in Bangkok, 513 in Phuket, 383 in Ubon Ratchathani, 261 in Nonthaburi, 227 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, 203 in Khon Kaen, 200 in Chiang Mai and 182 in Udon Thani.
Infections were rising mostly in tourism pilot provinces. Since Jan 1, many Covid-19 clusters have emerged at eateries. On Sunday such clusters were found in Khon Kaen, Buri Ram, Phayao, Nonthaburi, Chon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Pathom, Nan, Si Sa Ket, Roi Et and Ubon Ratchathani, Dr Sumanee said.
There were also many clusters related to New Year parties, accounting for 33 cases in Ubon Ratchathani, 25 in Khon Kaen, 22 in Prachuap Khiri Khan, 13 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, eight each in Nan and Ratchaburi, seven in Lop Buri, six each in Phayao and Yasothon, five each in Chon Buri and Amnat Charoen and four in Maha Sarakham.
“Key factors for disease transmission were eating and drinking with many people in poorly-ventilated venues. Drinking caused people to talk loudly and prolonged parties helped quickly spread the disease,” Dr Sumanee said.
On Sunday 52,329 people underwent antigen tests and 1,262, or 1.23%, returned positive.
“The percentage of positive results from antigen tests is rising,” she said.
From Nov 1, 2021, to Jan 9, 2022 there were 5,397 Omicron cases in 71 provinces and they accounted for 35.17% of all Covid-19 cases.
Of the 412 imported cases, most were in tourism pilot provinces. “Although arrivals are declining, infections among them are going up,” Dr Sumanee said.
On Sunday 58,159 people received Covid-19 treatment at hospitals, including 495 seriously ill patients and 115 dependent on ventilators.
The numbers of seriously ill patients and those needing ventilators tended to rise as daily caseloads were increasing, Dr Sumanee said.
On Sunday, 3,612 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus.
Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 2,277,476 Covid-19 cases, with 2,197,479 complete recoveries so far.
The death toll stood at 140 from Jan 1 and 21,838 since the beginning of the pandemic.
The kingdom's 24-hour high of Covid-19 fatalities was 312 recorded on Aug 13. The highest number of cases was 23,418 on Aug 18.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 1.85 million in 24 hours to 307.87 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 3,306 to 5.50 million. The United States had the most cases at 61.26 million, up 308,616, and the most deaths at 859,356, up 308.
