April 20

Thailand reported 129 daily COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, as new single-day infections stood at 16,891.

Authorities are on high alert and urge the public to exercise safe distance measures, in expectation of a high case surge as a result of recent travel activities during the Songkran holidays.

The health authorities expected COVID-19 cluster outbreaks particularly in the following two to four weeks. In order to keep the hospitalization rate low and prevent infection spikes, the government recommended people returning from their Songkran trips to observe symptoms and keep working from home.

Under the light of uncertain new COVID-19 waves, the Thai government is scheduled later this week to decide whether and how to further relax border restrictions in order to attract more international tourists.

As of Monday, around 72.9 percent of Thailand's nearly 70 million population had been fully vaccinated, while 36 percent had received booster shots.

xinhua