New Cases Still at 4 Digits, 3 New Deaths Added

The daily total of cases remains at 4 digits, but slightly lower now with only 1,340 new infections. Majority are local transmissions. Three new deaths have also been reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative death toll up to 104.

According to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, 1,334 of the cases were locally transmitted. The remaining six are imported through arrivals from abroad.

The CCSA also provided details on the three new fatalities to the COVID-19.

The first one, the CCSA said, is a 56-year-old man who went home to the province of Buri Ram for the Songkran holidays. He lived in the province’s Prakhon Chai district, but was employed in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit area as a bar employee. He died on Sunday.

The provincial communicable disease committee of Buri Ram on Sunday has ordered the lockdown of the village where the man lived. Contact tracing has determined that the man and another confirmed case had come into contact with several people while infected with COVID-19.

Governor Thatchakorn Hatthathayakul said that the lockdown, which is in place for 14 days, is “necessary” in order to prevent the virus from spreading out from the village into other areas of the province.

The second fatality succumbed to COVID-19 on Friday after contracting the virus from her grandson. The grandson had worked at a certain nightspot on Ratchadaphisek Road, where he was infected. The woman was 84 years old.

The third death is from Prachuap Khiri Khan. She had submitted herself to COVID-19 testing at a hospital in the province’s Hua Hin district, but had succumbed to the virus on Sunday. She was 61 years old.

Today’s daily total is lower than the 1,767 cases that were reported by the government on Sunday. However, experts still do not expect the downtrend to continue with the government’s community testing efforts still ongoing.

Previous statistics breaching 1,500 cases were the following:

• 1,543 cases on Thursday
• 1,582 cases on Friday
• 1,547 cases on Saturday
• 1,767 on Sunday

Although cases are dropping, CCSA assistant spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangson urged people to continue to be on guard against the COVID-19. The reduction in new cases is not yet the signal that the new wave is slowing down.

“High number will come back if we are complacent,” she warned.

Anticipating the spike in cases after it allowed the relaxation of travel restrictions for the Songkran holiday, the government is now calling on businesses to initiate work-from-home arrangements whenever possible.

Ms. Apisamai said that, with the Songkran holidays now over, it is important that society in general will limit movements only to essential travels. She pointed to the case of the Buri Ram fatality as a warning.

The Public Health Ministry is expecting the daily total of new cases to go down by next month as long as people adhere to the imposition of the restrictions.

Thailand’s imported cases came from a lone Indian national that flew directly to Thailand, and five Thais. Two arrived from Bahrain, another two from Malaysia, and one arriving from the United Arab Emirates.

Sources:
BangkokPost
BangkokPost