BANGKOK : The Thai government on Sunday announced plans for a tighter lockdown in Bangkok and high-risk provinces next week, suspending most domestic flights and expanding curfew areas after the country reported a third straight day of record COVID-19 case numbers. Domestic flights to and from Bangkok and other provinces classified by the Thai government as at high risk from COVID-19 will be suspended from Wednesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) said in an announcement. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul also plans to seek approval from the country's COVID-19 task force to temporarily regulate the export amount of locally manufactured AstraZeneca vaccines as a way to shore up COVID-19 vaccine supplies, but he gave no details about quotas, several local media reported. Thailand has been producing the AstraZeneca vaccine since June and is slated to export it to several other countries in Southeast Asia as well as Taiwan. Thailand's vaccine rollout, which has depended on the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines, began in June.

Source: Mint July 18, 2021 13:41 UTC