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The daily death toll in the coronavirus pandemic continued to climb with a new record high of 35 on Tuesday.
The previous record was 34 on May 12.
This came after the number of new cases hit a single-day record of more than 9,600 on Monday following a discovery of new clusters at eight prisons.
“Almost half of the fatalities or 16 were found in Bangkok alone,” said Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin, the spokesperson of the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).
The CCSA reported 2,473 confirmed cases and 35 related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases found in the third wave between April 1 and May 18 to 84,692 cases and 555 deaths with a mortality rate of 0.66 per cent.
The mortality rate for the first wave, from January to December 14, 2020, was at 1.42 per cent (60 deaths out of 4,237 cases) and 0.14 per cent (34 out of 24,626) in the second wave, from December 15 to January 2021.
Of total 84,692 cases in third wave, which started at entertainment venues in the capital and surrounding provinces since April 1, 42,492 people have already recovered.
Of the 42,988 still in hospitals, 1,150 were in critical condition including 384 on ventilators.
Bangkok
Of the 1,770 local cases (excluding the 680 cases in prisons) that were found in the past 24 hours, the highest numbers by province were 873 in Bangkok, followed by 155 in Nonthaburi, 121 in Samut Prakan, 117 in Pathum Thani and 63 in Samut Sakhon.
Bangkok, the hardest hit province in the third wave, reported on Tuesday that they have found 28 clusters in 19 districts so far.
Of the 28 clusters, eight were eight crowded communities, eight markets, seven companies, four worker camps and one prison, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said.
The top five clusters with most cases between May 11 and 16 include a construction worker camp in Lak Si, Khlong Thom area in Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Huai Khwang Market, an apartment complex in Din Daeng and a gems market in Bang Rak.
The 15 main clusters with high infection rate as of Tuesday are ones in Din Daeng, Ratchathewi, Bang Kapi, Dusit, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Khlong Toei, Lak Si, Phra Nakhon, Prawet, Bang Rak and Sathon.
The two new clusters that have been discovered in past 24 hours were Bangkok Noi Market and a crowded community in Huai Khwang.
Vaccine
As of Tuesday, 1.52 million people have received their first dose of Covid vaccine in Thailand and 819,961 have received both required doses.
The Ministry of Public Health said nearly 7 million people (6.16 million elderly people age 60 or over and 742,900 with any of seven chronic diseases) have registered to be vaccinated as of Tuesday.
The walk-in policy for vaccination without prior registration will begin for priority groups in June while Thai people between the age 18 and 59 will be able to begin online registration on May 31, the government said on Monday.