Thailand recorded 490 new COVID-19 cases, including 450 in the coastal province of Samut Sakhon alone on Saturday.

CCSA assistant spokesperson Dr. Panprapa Yongtrakul said, during today’s COVID-19 situation briefing, that pro-active screening in Samut Sakhon must continue. More than 150,000 people in the province have been tested, of which over 13,000 tested positive for the virus.

479 of today’s new infections are locally transmitted and the other 11 came from abroad.

She also emphasized the need for increased vigilance in the four southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Songkhla, Yala and Satun, as 3,391 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Malaysian states along the border.

In Bangkok, where 23 new cases were recorded today, Dr.Panprapa asked households which hire Myanmar domestic workers to make sure that their employees do not visit high risk areas, or are not infected, after a 95-year old bed-ridden Thai man tested positive for the virus with three Myanmar domestic workers in the same house.

Another area of concern is Mae Sot district of Tak province, where 11 people from seven families were found to be infected following an infection found in a 75-year old man from Myanmar.

The cluster has led to pro-active screening to test those who had been in contact with the 11 cases.

Cumulative infections in Thailand, to date, are 23,134, with 16,274 recoveries. 6,781 others are still being treated in hospitals. The national COVID-19 related death toll remains 79.

Globally, Thailand is 115th in terms of total infections.