The country registered 18,885 more Covid-19 cases and 29 new fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Saturday morning.
The latest 24-hour total is the highest since Aug 22 last year and compared with the 29 coronavirus-related fatalities and 18,066 new cases reported on Friday morning.
Of the 29 people reported to have died, there were 16 men and 13 women. They comprised 28 Thais and one Myanmar, aged 26 to 94, with an average age of 74, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Saturday afternoon.
Bangkok saw six new deaths. There was one fatality in the adjacent province of Nakhon Pathom.
The Northeast had six more fatalities - four in Ubon Ratchathani and two in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The North reported six fatalities – two in Chiang Mai and one each in Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Tak and Phayao.
The South had five more deaths – three in Phuket and two in Songkhla.
Other central plain provinces further from the capital recorded five deaths – one each in Chanthaburi, Chachoengsao, Chon Buri, Trat and Prachuap Khiri Khan.
There were 18,554 new cases in the general population, 107 among prison inmates and 224 imported cases.
Of the local infections, 18,486 were confirmed at hospitals and 68 via mass testing.
Bangkok continued to lead the daily new cases at 3,168, down 290 from 3,458 on the previous day, followed by 974 in Samut Prakan (+17), 973 in Chon Buri (+162), 770 in Nonthaburi (+174), 578 in Nakhon Ratchasima (+99), 558 in Phuket (+24), 548 in Nakhon Si Thammarat (-202), 459 in Buri Ram (+122), 454 in Chachoengsao (+152) and 449 in Pathum Thani (+52).
The 224 imported cases were from 43 countries, including 63 from Myanmar, 42 from Russia, nine each from the United Kingdom and Germany, eight from France, seven from Ukraine and six each from Norway and Turkey.
On Friday, 157,499 people received Covid-19 treatment at hospitals (up from 149,589 the previous day), including 749 seriously ill patients (down from 755) and 184 dependent on ventilators (up from 182).
The 24-hour period also saw 12,511 Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals.
Vaccinations continued to progress, with 121.30 million doses administered in all 77 provinces as of Friday. 76.3% of the population have now received one dose of the vaccine and 71.1% have received two shots, while 27.1% have got a booster shot.
On Friday alone, 375,191 vaccines were administered — 81,794 as a first shot, 61,413 as a second shot and 231,984 as a booster shot.
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 2,693,362 Covid-19 cases, including 469,927 cases this year, with 2,513,269 complete recoveries to date.
Of the 22,594 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, 896 have occurred so far this year.
The highest number of Covid-related fatalities in a 24-hour period was 312 recorded on Aug 13. The highest number of cases was 23,418 on Aug 18.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 1.92 million in 24 hours to 422.20 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 10,268 to 5.89 million.
The United States had the most cases at 80.02 million, up 108,480.
