THE Department of Disease Control revealed that the rate of COVID-19 fatalities and infections in Thailand soared to 150% during the seven days of the Songkran Festival.
The agency said 1,088 COVID-19 inpatients were reported from April 16 to 22.
COVID-19 fatalities also rose from two to five.
During this period, 73 patients, or equivalent to a 173% increase suffered lung inflammation, while those dependent on ventilators went up 84%.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration advised people not to panic despite a spike in cases.
This is because most of the cases were found to be older subvariants, while the number of cases of the emerging subvariant, Omicron XBB.1.16, remains small.
The deputy director-general of the Health Department believes that concerts, sporting competitions, and other entertainment activities that brought together people shouting and singing for a long period increased the risk of transmission.
The increase in COVID-19 cases came after hundreds of deaths and injuries from road accidents were also recorded during the Songkran period.
