Bangkok extends strict restrictive measures due to COVID

Thailand has extended current partial lockdown measures in 29 most affected provinces till the end of August, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said, Report informs referring to Xinhua.

The only easing measure applies to banks and financial institutions located inside malls, which are allowed to reopen from Aug. 18, according to the CCSA.

The move comes as the country reported over 21,000 daily new cases for six consecutive days with no signs of decline.

Official data from the CCSA showed that 21,157 new COVID-19 cases were recorded over the past 24 hours, raising the country’s total caseload to 928,314. The death toll also rose by 182 to 7,734.

Thailand is battling so far the worst outbreak of the coronavirus, which started in April and led to infections of nearly 900,000 people.

Since mid of July, the highly infectious delta variant has become the dominant strain in the country, which puts additional pressure on the vaccination progress.