There were 49 more Covid-19 fatalities and 23,618 new cases reported during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Thursday morning.
This compared with the 45 coronavirus-related fatalities and 22,197 new cases reported on Wednesday morning.
The patient figures did not include 42,138 positive results from antigen tests over the same period.
Sumanee Wacharasin, hazard communication director of the Department of Disease Control, said in the afternoon briefing that total number of new cases found through both RT-PCR and antigen testing was 65,756.
She also said daily cases were expected to peak in mid-April and be at rock-bottom in late May.
“Please do your best to refrain from attending meetings, and work from home as much as possible,” she said.
Earlier, Dr Somsak Akksilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said that results from antigen test kits certified by the Food and Drug Administration were found to be 95% accurate.
The 49 latest coronavirus-related fatalities were between the ages of 31 and 99 years and included two foreigners, both from Myanmar.
“Sixty-seven percent of the new fatalities were either unvaccinated or inadequately vaccinated and 27% had received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine more than three months ago,” Dr Sumanee said.
Bangkok had 10 new deaths and there were four more in the adjacent provinces of Nakhon Pathom (2), Pathum Thani (1) and Samut Prakan (1).
Other central plain provinces further from the capital recorded 12 more deaths – three in Chon Buri, two each in Chachoengsao and Trat and one each in Chanthaburi, Rayong, Sa Kaeo, Suphan Buri and Kanchanaburi.
The Northeast had nine more – three in Loei, two in Si Sa Ket and one each in Nakhon Ratchasima, Maha Sarakham, Roi Et and Ubon Ratchathani.
The South reported five more deaths - in Phatthalung, Pattani, Phuket, Satun and Songkhla.
The North saw nine fatalities – four in Tak and one each in Chiang Rai, Chai Nat, Nakhon Sawan, Sukhothai and Phichit.
There were 23,211 new cases in the general population, 226 among prison inmates and 181 imported cases.
Of the local Covid-19 infections, 22,939 were confirmed at hospitals and 272 via mass testing.
Bangkok had the most new cases at 2,779, followed by 1,217 in Chon Buri, 959 in Nakhon Si Thammarat, 953 in Samut Prakan, 754 in Rayong, 739 in Nonthaburi, 704 in Samut Sakhon, 649 in Phuket, 570 in Ratchaburi and 548 in Buri Ram.
“Most clusters of new infections occur in medical personnel at hospitals, including 85 medical workers in Bangkok, 26 in Chon Buri, 18 in Samut Prakan, 15 in Narathiwat and 14 in Pathum Thani,” Dr Sumanee said.
The second largest number of clusters were at schools. Clusters at eateries had dropped sharply, she said.
The 181 imported cases were from 33 countries and included 44 cases from Myanmar, 33 from Russia, 23 from Germany and nine from Cambodia.
On Tuesday 223,414 people received Covid-19 treatment at hospitals (up from 218,784 the previous day), including 1,131 seriously ill patients with lung inflammation (up from 1,094) and 325 dependent on ventilators (up from 310).
Dr Sumanee said Covid-19 patients occupied 58.1% of hospital beds and patients with no or mild symptoms should be treated at home or enter community isolation.
The 24-hour period also saw 18,939 Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus.
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 2,958,162 Covid-19 cases, including 734,727 cases this year, with 2,711,678 complete recoveries to date.
The death toll stood at 23,070 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 1,372 so far this year.
Global Covid-19 cases rose by 1.58 million in 24 hours to 440.64 million. The worldwide death toll went up by 7,733 to 5.99 million.
The United States had the most cases at 80.76 million, up 49,729.
