756 new Covid cases in 24 hours, most found during proactive testing in Samut Sakhon

Of the new cases, 22 were exposed to the virus while visiting high-risk areas. These include nine in Samut Sakhon, eight from Bangkok and three in Samut Prakan.

Proactive testing led to the discovery of 724 cases in Samut Sakhon – 710 foreigners and 14 Thai workers.

CCSA assistant spokesman Apisamai Srirangsan said such a large number in Samut Sakhon was due to a search for active cases among communities for the fourth consecutive day, aimed at containing the infection rate in the province within this week.

Apisamai said only 15 provinces reported cases in the last four days, lowering the risk of the virus spreading further in the country. A key CCSA meeting on Friday would therefore discuss relaxation of strict anti-Covid measures in each province.

However, the cluster linked to DJ Matoom’s birthday has put more people in Bangkok at risk after some patients earlier concealed details of their movements, leading to late preventive responses to the virus and causing more than 200 people to now be categorised as high-risk close contacts, Apisamai said.

Health officials are preparing to press charges against such patients who failed to reveal all details of their movements since they are an obstacle to preventing the spread of the virus, she added.

Meanwhile, of the infected returnees, five are Thai nationals who flew in from Qatar (1) and the United States (4). Also testing positive are a Portuguese woman who arrived from Brazil, two Russians, an Indonesian, and an American.

Meanwhile, 233 patients have recovered and been discharged.

As of Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in Thailand has risen to 16,221. Of these, 13,804 contracted the virus domestically, including 6,972 who were found via proactive testing, and 2,417 are returnees. So far, 11,287 have recovered and been discharged, 4,858 patients are still in hospital and the death toll remains at 76.

According to Worldometer, as of 10 am, the number of confirmed cases globally has increased to 101.43 million (rising by 590,299 in 24 hours), 73.32 million have recovered, 25.92 million are active cases (110,179 in severe condition) and 2.18 million have died (up by 16,846).

Thailand ranks 120th on the global list of most cases. The US tops the list with 26.16 million, followed by India 10.7 million, Brazil 9 million, Russia 3.77 million and the United Kingdom 3.72 million.