On Tuesday, the government recorded 155 new COVID-19 cases. 134 were local infections, 11 migrants and 10 quarantined arrivals, raising the accumulated total in Thailand to 6,440. The national death toll rose by one to 61.
Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, the spokesman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said 10 of the new cases were recent arrivals from Germany, Vietnam, India, Sweden, the United States, Turkey and Bahrain.
Twelve new cases were linked to the Central Shrimp Market outbreak in Samut Sakhon province and two new cases were linked to the gambling cluster in Rayong province.
Seventeen new cases were people in close contact with previously confirmed cases.
The cases of about 100 people thought to have contracted the virus locally were under investigation. They included 56 people in Rayong and 28 in adjacent Chon Buri province.
“The number of new cases is soaring,” Dr Visanuyothin said.
The number of provinces recording new COVID-19 cases rose from six during 18th – 20th December to 26 during 21st – 23rd December, 37 during 24th – 26th December and 45 during 27th – 29th December, he said.
Based on health authorities’ calculations, without any control measures the number of daily new cases could reach 18,000 by 14th January, the spokesman said.
Moderate control measures could result in about 8,000 daily new cases and intensified control measures could limit daily new cases to lower than 1,000.
Dr Visanuyothin said the country was conducting moderate control measures compared to the intensified control measures implemented earlier this year.
Of the total 6,440 cases in the country, 4,180 (64.97%) have recovered, including four discharged over the past 24 hours, while 2,195 were receiving treatment. The death toll rose by one over the past 24 hours to 61.
Global COVID-19 cases rose by 487,273 in 24 hours to 81.67 million. The worldwide death toll was up by 9,105 to 1.87 million. The US had the most cases at 19.78 million, up 186,296, and the most deaths at 343,182, up 1,966.
