Thailand fights to contain COVID-19 surge in Bangkok

BANGKOK (AP) — Health officials rushed to vaccinate thousands of people in Bangkok's biggest slum on Wednesday as new COVID-19 cases spread through densely populated low-income areas in the capital's central business district.

The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha is facing mounting criticism for its handling of a surge that began in early April.

Thailand recorded 2,112 new cases and 15 deaths on Wednesday. The country has been reporting about 2,000 cases a day recently, often with double-digit deaths in the third mass outbreak since the pandemic started.

More than half of the 74,900 cases reported by the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, or 46,037, have been confirmed since April 1. A total of 318 people are known to have died from the virus.

The CCSA said about 30,000 people were being treated in hospitals and in field hospitals constructed to make up for the lack of enough hospital beds and intensive care units, especially in Bangkok.

Thailand had managed to control the spread of the virus by closing its borders to almost all travelers and then imposing lengthy mandatory quarantines. Apart from that, life had largely returned to normal before the latest surge, which began in nightclubs and bars in Bangkok.

Health officials warned that caseloads were bound to jump after millions traveled around the country during Songkran national holidays in mid-April, even as authorities were urging people to stay home and take more precautions against the virus.

The country has vaccinated only 2% of its 60 million people in a faltering, delayed inoculation program as the government initially chose to use only two vaccines, China's Sinovac and one made by AstraZeneca.

Officials say they will begin supplying millions of vaccines in June with the aim of...