Thailand reports record 23,557 new COVID-19 cases

BANGKOK. KAZINFORM - Thailand on Thursday reported a record daily increase of 23,557 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the Southeast Asian country, Xinhua reports.

That brought the total number of infections in the country to 2.79 million, while that of fatalities to 22,768, according to the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

The number of daily COVID-19 deaths was 38, well below the 184 fatalities reported on Aug. 13, 2021, when Thailand recorded its previous record of 23,418 new cases.

Early this week, the Ministry of Public Health raised the COVID-19 alert level from 3 to 4, a category that includes regulations discouraging dining or drinking at restaurants and avoiding public gatherings to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The ministry expected the number of new infections to keep rising in the coming one or two weeks.

The CCSA announced on Wednesday that the country would further ease entry requirement for vaccinated inbound visitors starting next month.

As of Wednesday, 71.3 percent of the country's nearly 70-million population had been fully vaccinated, while 28.2 percent had received booster shots, according to the CCSA.