As a new wave of Covid infections bites, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has ordered the closure of all entertainment venues from Tuesday until Jan 4.
The order covers bars with hostesses, horseracing tracks and cockfighting arenas and other entertainment venues including massage parlours. However, pubs and restaurants can stay open as long as they serve only food and drinks, and close by midnight.
Meanwhile, the governor of Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of Thailand's latest Covid-19 outbreak, has tested positive for the virus.
His infection was confirmed on Monday -- one day after he met Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior health officials who were visiting Samut Sakhon.
Mr Anutin and the rest of his entourage tested negative for the virus, but they have been placed under a 14-day quarantine.
The Deputy Public Health Minister confirmed the country's 61st coronavirus-related death on Monday. He said the 45-year-old patient had underlying health problems and was linked to a cluster of infections from a gambling den in Rayong.
Thailand's 60th Covid-19 death was a returnee from the UK who died on Nov 6, while the 59th returned from Saudi Arabia. The 58th Covid-19 death was a man from Narathiwat who died in June.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) on Monday warned that local cases could rise by the thousands a day, or even tens of thousands per day by mid-January if provinces with a high number of cases fail to enforce disease control measures.
