Thai Health Officials Reports 3,394 New COVID-19 Cases, 29 Deaths

Health officials on Wednesday reported 3,394 new COVID-19 cases and 29 more fatalities as Thailand continues to grapple with its worst covid-19 outbreak so far.

Of the new cases, 3,377 were domestic infections, with 1,498 being confirmed via active testing at prisons, while 17 others were imported cases, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangsan told a daily news briefing.

The new cases still concentrated in the capital Bangkok and its vicinity regions. Some 876 new infections were reported in Bangkok, where 34 clusters have been detected.

The infections raised the country’s total caseload to 116,949, more than quadrupling from the start of April, when the latest outbreak began to spread from Bangkok.

The 29 additional fatalities reported Wednesday added the death toll to 678. Some 41,903 patients are currently under medical treatment, with 1,210 in critical conditions.

Vaccination Safety

Meanwhile, Virologist Dr. Yong Poovorawan has told Thai media that people can still contract Covid-19 after recovering from it and they should be vaccinated.

Dr Yong was responding to a question on whether a recovered Covid-19 patient should receive the vaccine.

The head of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, Dr Yong said inoculation is needed to prevent a repeat of the infection in recovered patients.

Citing a study in Nature Medicine, Dr Yong said the vaccine should be administered three months after the initial infection. The immunity in recovered patients will decline after six months.

The centre was conducting a study where Covid-19 sufferers who have been cured of the virus in the past 3-6 months are given a booster shot.

Those who have recovered for between six months to a year are provided with a two-dose vaccine.

The centre was also running a detailed check of the level of immunity in study subjects and other epidemiological data related to the research.

He said recovered patients in the current outbreak should get vaccinated and book their appointments.