Prayuth had come into close contact with the Chairman of Surin Chamber of Commerce, Veerasak Pisanuwong, who took a selfie with the premier during Phuket’s reopening ceremony on July 1.
Veerasak wrote a post on Facebook advising those who came in close contact with him to self-isolate as he had been tested positive for Covid-19.
Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said Prayuth who received two doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine had tested negative this morning.
“The prime minister will carry out his duties as usual,” he said in a statement.
Over the last 24 hours, Thailand reported 6,166 new Covid-19 cases and 50 deaths, bringing the total infections in the kingdom to 289,233 and 2,276 fatalities to date.
Of the new cases, Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) spokesman Dr Taweesin Visanuyothin said 6,154 were local transmissions, including 2,109 through active case detection and 12 imported cases.
He said Bangkok, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 1,729 new cases, followed by Samut Prakan (411), Samut Sakhon (389), Pathum Thani (352) and Songkhla (318).
He said the new fatalities involved 34 men and 16 women aged between 28 and 91 years old including 17 in Bangkok, Nonthaburi (9), Samut Prakan (6) and Chachoengsao (3).
Amid a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases, authorities have stepped up efforts to establish more field hospitals, as well as adding more hospital beds.
Director of News Division from the Department of Information of Foreign Affairs Ministry, Pensom Lertsithichai said more than 90% of hospital beds in Bangkok are now occupied.
Therefore, she said the Public Health Ministry is increasing the capacity of field hospitals, including an additional 1,500 hospital beds at Bussarakham Field Hospital in Nonthaburi’s Impact Muang Thong Thani.
To ease the bed shortage at hospitals in Bangkok, she said more than 30 provinces in Thailand will be welcoming Covid-19 patients who work in Bangkok and nearby provinces to return to home provinces to receive treatment under the initiative “No One Left Behind”.
“The CCSA instructed Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) to open 20 isolation centres to accommodate Covid-19 patients who are waiting for hospital beds,” she said.
In Pattani, south of Thailand, health authorities are to open 15 new field hospitals in 12 districts to accommodate the increasing number of Covid-19 patients.
As the Covid-19 numbers in Pattani continue to surge, Dr Rusta Salaeh who is in charge of the field hospital in the province said a field hospital would accommodate about 100 patients.
“These field hospitals are scheduled to be opened in one to two weeks time,” he told Bernama.