The provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla and Yala recorded a combined 2,303 new cases compared to 1,610 in Greater Bangkok, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration said.

Yala logged the most cases at 756, followed by 579 in Songkhla, 502 in Pattani and 466 in Narathiwat.

In a bid to control the infections, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered the setting up of an ad hoc task force in the South led by his adviser, former National Security Council chief General Nattaphol Nakpanich.

The country also saw the arrival of 24 new cases from overseas, including 12 from Myanmar, three each from Cambodia and Malaysia, two each from the US and Ukraine and one each from Germany and Pakistan.

Covid cases rocket in deep South as Bangkok infection rate drops

Though the number of cases in Bangkok showed a marked drop on Monday, infections in the four border provinces in the South surged significantly.