157 new Covid-19 cases confirmed, including 21 Thais who sneaked back into country

Of the 157, Bangkok confirmed 24 cases, Samut Sakhon 25 and Samut Prakan 15.

Some 90 of the 157 contracted the virus after visiting high-risk places or being in occupations that exposed them to virus patients.

Proactive testing led to the discovery of 42 positive cases in Samut Sakhon (six foreigners and four Thais), Pathum Thani (nine from Myanmar, three other foreigners and one Thai), Rayong (12 Thais), Chon Buri (five Thais), and Samut Prakan (one Thai and one from Myanmar).

Meanwhile, 21 Thais caught returning from Myanmar without permission on January 11 have Covid-19 with five of them are asymptomatic.

Also, two Thais who flew back from Iceland and the United States as well as a Dutch man from Germany and a man from Qatar have Covid-19.

As of Wednesday, 211 patients in the second wave have recovered and been discharged.

The number of confirmed cases in Thailand has now increased to 10,991. Of these, 8,791 contracted Covid-19 domestically, including 3,006 found after proactive testing. Some 2,200 were returnees.

So far, 6,943 patients have recovered and been discharged, 3,981 are presently being treated in hospital, and 67 have died.

According to Worldometer, as of midnight on Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases globally has risen to 92 million (an increase of 663,353 in 24 hours), 65.82 million have recovered, 24.21 million are active cases (110,135 in severe condition) and 1.97 million have died (up by 15,711).

Thailand ranks 128th on the global list of most cases. The US tops the list with 23.37 million, followed by India 10.49 million, Brazil 8.19 million, Russia 3.44 million and the United Kingdom 3.16 million.