06 Mar, 2021
The second wave of the coronavirus outbreak has led to more than 22,000 confirmed cases and 25 deaths since December 15, officials confirmed Friday.
Around 77 per cent of the 22,004 confirmed cases in the new outbreak were found in Samut Sakhon alone, said Dr Panprapa Yongtrakul, the spokeswoman for the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
On Friday, the CCSA reported another 79 new coronavirus cases found in the past 24 hours.
Of those, 65 were local infections, 12 were found in quarantine facilities and two were illegal returnees, women aged 23 and 24, who re-entered the country from Myanmar avoiding checkpoints.
The last time the country reported more than 100 cases per day was on February 18.
Of the 65 local infections, 22 were found via tests at medical facilities and 43 via proactive tests at high-risk communities in Samut Sakhon (38) and Pathumthani (5).
This brings the total number of infections since the pandemic began last year to 26,241 cases. While 25,641 people have recovered from the disease, 515 patients are still being treated.
There was no new fatality, leaving the death toll at 85 people.
Clusters and provinces
The second wave of the outbreak has reached 63 out of the 77 provinces in Thailand so far. Of the infected province, 11 have reported cases since February 28.
The hardest-hit province continues to be Samut Sakhon, where the second wave began, which has reported 16,339 confirmed cases since December 15.
This was followed by Bangkok (983), Chonburi (657), Pathumthani (657), Rayong (584), Samut Prakan (366), Chanthaburi (221), Nonthaburi (180), Tak (168), Ang Thong (123) and Nakhon Pathom (120), respectively.
Of the 65 local infections reported on Friday, 50 were found in Samut Sakhon followed by eight in Pathumthani, six in Bangkok and one in Chonburi.
The CCSA also confirmed earlier reports that two of the cases that were reported for Bangkok over the past two days are entrants in the Miss Grand International 2020 beauty pageant from Nigeria and Kenya.
The organizers said Thursday that two of their contestants have tested positive for the virus. The beauty pageant is scheduled for March 27.
