There were 26 more Covid-19 fatalities and 14,900 new cases recorded during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Monday morning.
This compared with the 24 coronavirus-related fatalities and 15,882 new cases reported on Sunday morning.
Apisamai Srirangson, spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, said in the afternoon briefing that the latest 26 fatalities were aged from 45 to 99 years.
“All of them were elderly with underlying illnesses. Fourteen fatal cases were unvaccinated. Two had received one vaccine dose. Two others had their second dose more than four months ago. Two already received their third dose but had not reached the time when their immunity would become effective yet,” she said.
Bangkok had nine coronavirus-related deaths while there were two more in the adjacent provinces of Nakhon Pathom and Samut Prakan.
Other central plain provinces further from the capital recorded seven more deaths – in Kanchanaburi (2), Suphan Buri (2), Trat (1), Ratchaburi (1) and Saraburi (1).
The Northeast had three fatalities - in Kalasin, Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani.
The South reported three more deaths - in Phangnga, Phatthalung and Surat Thani.
The North saw two new fatalities - in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.
The 14,900 new infections comprised 14,610 in the general population, 98 among prison inmates and 192 imported cases. “About 3% of arrivals had Covid-19,” Dr Apisamai said.
Of the local Covid-19 infections, 14,475 were confirmed at hospitals and 135 via mass testing.
Bangkok still had the most new cases at 2,892, followed by 888 in Samut Prakan, 611 in Nonthaburi, 590 in Chon Buri, 567 in Nakhon Ratchasima, 486 in Phuket, 434 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, 324 in Ratchaburi, 317 in Buri Ram and 303 in Nakhon Pathom.
“New caseloads seem to have fallen slightly following an increase after New Year. However, fatalities appear to be rising,” Dr Apisamai said.
“The Omicron variant caused 80% of the new cases and Delta the rest. So, we cannot be complacent,” she said.
On Sunday 129,933 people received Covid-19 treatment at hospitals, including 687 seriously ill patients with lung inflammation and 138 dependent on ventilators.
The 24-hour period also saw 9,810 Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus.
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 2,608,227 Covid-19 cases, including 384,792 cases this year, with 2,455,832 complete recoveries to date.
The death toll stood at 22,462 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 764 so far this year.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 1.48 million in 24 hours to 412.17 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 5,449 to 5.83 million.
The United States had the most cases at 79.32 million, up 31,652, and the most deaths at 943,411, up 467. Thailand ranked 31st by its 2.61 million accumulated cases.
“New cases in Europe and America are falling compared with figures over the past 2-3 weeks. Meanwhile, cases are soaring in Asia,” Dr Apisamai said.
