There were 23 more Covid-19 fatalities and 1,942 new patients admitted to hospitals on Friday, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday morning.
This compared with 24 coronavirus-related fatalities and 2,046 patients on Thursday, as reported on Friday.
As of midnight Friday, a total of 16,723 people were receiving Covid-19 treatment (up from 16,447 the previous day), including 8,664 in hospitals (up from 8,493). Of the remainder, 137 were in field hospitals/hospitel facilities (down from 140) and 7,856 in home/community isolation (up from 7,751), while 66 others were not specified.
Of those in hospitals, 716 were seriously ill with lung inflammation (down from 729) and 357 dependent on ventilators (down from 367).
The 24-hour period also saw 1,643 patients discharged from hospitals after recovering.
Among the 1,942 new inpatients over the past 24 hours, there were 1,941 cases in the general population and one imported case.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Saturday afternoon that the 23 people who died were aged from 30 to 96, with the average age of 76. They were 14 men and nine women. All except one British national were Thais.
Bangkok saw three more covid-related fatalities, and there was one death reported in the adjacent province of Samut Prakan.
Other provinces in the Central Plains reported nine deaths – three in Lop Buri, two in Prachin Buri and one each in Chon Buri, Chanthaburi, Nakhon Sawan and Saraburi.
The Northeast had four new fatalities – in Ubon Ratchathani, Nong Bua Lamphu, Nong Khai and Surin.
The North saw three deaths – in Chiang Mai, Nan and Lampang.
The South reported three deaths – two in Surat Thani and one in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
From Aug 21 to 27, 173,234 people tested positive for Covid-19 via antigen tests. That pointed to 24,747 new Covid-19 cases daily on average over the seven-day period.
Vaccinations continued to progress, with 142.80 million doses administered as of Friday. The CCSA said 82.3% of the population has now received at least one dose of the vaccine, 77.2% at least two shots and 45.7% at least one booster shot.
On Friday alone, 21,919 vaccine doses were administered — 3,329 as a first shot, 5,700 as a second and 12,890 as a booster.
Since the Covid pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 4,656,911 Covid-19 cases, including 2,433,476 this year, with 4,607,813 complete recoveries to date.
The accumulated death toll stood at 32,375 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 10,677 so far this year.
The highest number of Covid-related fatalities in a 24-hour period was 312 recorded on Aug 13, 2021. The highest number of cases was 28,379 on April 1, 2022.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 559,933 in 24 hours to 609.43 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 1,746 to 6.50 million. The United States had the most cases at 96.58 million, up 61,991.
