An all-time record 27,560 confirmed new Covid-19 cases were registered during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry announced on Thursday morning, along with 85 more coronavirus-related fatalities.
The day before, the new caseload was at 25,389s with 87 deaths.
Just 61 of the 27,560 cases announced Thursday were detected in new arrivals from other countries.
Starting Friday, foreign travellers will no longer be required to carry a pre-travel Covid-free certificate as the country seeks to draw more holidaymakers to help it sustain a nascent economic recovery. Overseas visitors will still be required to undergo an RT-PCR test on arrival and a self-administered antigen test on day five.
The flare-up in cases comes ahead of the Songkran festival, the Thai new year celebrations, from April 13 with authorities cautioning against large gatherings and traditional splashing of waters on revellers to prevent more people getting infected.
The country has prepared a road-map to classify the pandemic as endemic in the coming months, but the progress toward it would be contingent on first controlling the current outbreak, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said.
On Wednesday, 25,077 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus while 246,770 others were receiving treatment (up from 244,372 on the previous day).
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 3,628,347 Covid-19 cases, including 1,404,912 this year, with 3,356,447 complete recoveries to date.
The accumulated death toll stood at 25,130 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 3,432 so far this year.
The highest number of Covid-related fatalities in a 24-hour period was 312 recorded on Aug 13, 2021. The highest number of cases was 27,071 on March 18.
-- More to follow from the afternoon briefing --
