COVID-19 infections in Thailand, Philippines remain high

A student undergoes a temperature check as schools reopen due to the easing of restrictions after a temporary closure to combat the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in Bangkok. (Photo: AFP)

No new deaths were reported, leaving the toll at 77, according to a briefing from the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Analysis (CCSA).

Of the new cases, 782 were in Samut Sakhon, with a further six in the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham and five in Bangkok.  A further 39 cases were found in hospital and clinic walk-ins -- 32 in Samut Sakhon, five in Bangkok and two in Ratchaburi.

Thailand has documented 19,618 COVID-19 cases so far, including 17,155 locally-transmitted infections and 2,463 imported cases. As many as 12,514 patients have recovered and were discharged from hospitals, while 7,027 are under treatment.

Meanwhile, the Philippines reported 1,658 new cases the same day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 572,272, according to the country’s Department of Health (DOH).

The death toll climbed to 10,807 after 58 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH said. It added 27 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 487,574.

The Philippines, with a population about 110 million, has tested over 7.3 million people since the disease emerged in January last year.

World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Philippines Rabindra Abeyasinghe lauded the Philippines for making use of the prolonged coronavirus lockdown in dealing with the pandemic.

The Philippines remains under varying degrees of lockdown restrictions for more than 10 months now, causing the economy to shrink 9.5 percent in 2020.

The Philippine government plans to buy 148 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate up to 70 million Filipinos this year./.

VNA