Thailand has confirmed 315 new coronavirus cases, taking the accumulated total number of infections since the start of the pandemic to 7,694, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Sunday.

No new deaths were reported, leaving fatalities at 64.

The CCSA said 294 of the 315 new cases were locally transmitted. Twenty of them are migrant workers and 19 live in Bangkok.

Despite the new surge of the coronavirus, the government plans to show some flexibility on new restrictions to be announced on Monday after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha signs the directive as the CCSA director.

CCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin said the draft regulations to be forwarded to the prime minister on Monday will not ban customers from eating in restaurants, provided the establishments strictly follow protocol. Shopping centres will maintain normal hours and some activities -- such as interprovincial travel from at-risk provinces -- will be allowed, he added.

"We have toned down our previous plan," the spokesman said, explaining that the CCSA decided not to enforce a national lockdown because of the devastation it would cause to businesses and the wider economy.

"We will not lock down the country because there is an economic cost to pay and everybody will suffer," he said.

The CCSA has left room for provincial governors, including the Bangkok governor, to impose tougher restrictions beyond the new measures to be signed off by the prime minister.

Governors serve as the chairmen of each provincial communicable disease committee.

"They cannot weaken the CCSA measures but they can add more restrictions," he said.

 

 

Bangkok Post