Delta responsible for more than 9 in 10 new cases
The Delta variant now accounts for nearly 93 per cent of new Covid-19 infections in Thailand, the Department of Medical Science said on Tuesday.
Dr Supphakit Siriluck, the department’s director-general, said its latest weekly survey of new cases from August 14-20 showed that 2,132 out of 2,295 samples (92.9 per cent), were infected with Delta, formerly known as the Indian strain.
“Delta is responsible for 96.7 per cent of cases found in Bangkok and 85.2 per cent found in all other provinces,” he said.
The Alpha variant accounted for 5.8 per cent of cases sampled (134 patients) while the Beta variant accounted for only 1.3 per cent (29 patients). The Beta cases were mostly found in the southern provinces of Narathiwat, Krabi, Phuket, Pattani and Songkhla, said Supphakit.
He added that a factory employee in Samut Sakhon province who cited a laboratory result to claim he had tested positive for Covid-19 so he could take sick leave was later found to have faked the result and has not contracted the virus.
“The Department of Medical Science keeps detailed records of all Covid-19 tests by certified laboratories, so we can verify a test result and immediately know which ones are fake,” he warned. “Do not use fake test results, whether to take sick leave or to claim insurance, as falsifying documents is a serious criminal offence,” he added.