Thai Covid-19 cases cross 1-million mark

BANGKOK • Thailand surpassed one million coronavirus cases yesterday, with 97 per cent of them recorded in the past five months as the country struggles to boost vaccinations and get on top of one of Asia's most severe Covid-19 outbreaks.

The authorities yesterday reported 19,851 cases and 240 fatalities, taking total confirmed infections past one million and deaths to 8,826, a death ratio of 0.87 per cent of confirmed cases.

It was the first dip in the number of daily cases below 20,000 in 10 days.

There were 205,079 active cases nationwide, of which 5,388 patients were in critical condition, with 1,161 on ventilators.

However, despite a slight decrease in the number of hospitalised patients, the country's medical infrastructure is still under great pressure.

"Due to the Covid situation, not many people are donating blood, so there is not enough and some operations have to be postponed," said Dr Piya Kiatisewi, a bone cancer surgeon at Lerdsin Hospital in Bangkok.

Thailand had kept the coronavirus largely under control and imposed only partial restrictions for much of the pandemic until it was hit in April by the virulent Alpha variant, followed later by the Delta variant, when few people were vaccinated.

Health officials have been rushing to shore up vaccine supply, having inoculated just 8.3 per cent of the population of over 70 million.

With concerns about the efficacy of inactivated-virus vaccines against the Delta variant, Thailand is planning to administer booster shots, health official Sopon Iamsirithawon told reporters.

Either the AstraZeneca vaccine or mRNA-type vaccines will be given to the estimated 3.4 million people in Thailand who were administered the Sinovac brand.

Booster doses have already been given to medical and front-line workers who received the Chinese vaccine.

The authorities are also mixing AstraZeneca and Sinovac shots to boost immunity and as a workaround for supply issues.

The government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, including its vaccination policy, has fuelled a recent revival of protests against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who has stood by his administration's strategy.

The Thai government aims to vaccinate around 70 per cent of the population by the end of the year, and recently intensified efforts to secure more vaccines and accelerate the roll-out process.

REUTERS, XINHUA