Dr Supakit Sirilak, the director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences and representative of the ministry, said the British variant appeared in 93 per cent of the samples.

Regarding the South African variant, he said only 11 persons in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district were infected with this particular strain and they were under strict quarantine in an attempt to keep this variant of the coronavirus from spreading to nearby areas.

Supakit also said that a total of 62 people in Bangkok were found to have contracted the Indian variant. A search was conducted after 32 construction workers were initially found to be infected with the strain.