BANGKOK: Amid calls to restrict outdoor activities in the nation's capital, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said public events are not to be blamed for the rise in new Covid-19 infections in the country.
Responding to the Ministry of Public Health's concerns over the risks posed by City Hall's launch of an outdoor film festival, he said some of the activities were boosting the nation's economy, which took a hard hit due to the pandemic.
"If there is a sound reason for us to call off these activities, we will be more than happy to stop… but to cancel without any good reason will only make people panic," the governor said.
"As for now, since there has not been any clear indication that we should stop, we will stick to our plan," he said, according to a Bangkok Post report.
Outdoor activities drew people away from closed spaces such as shopping malls, where he said the risk of Covid-19 spreading was possibly higher.
His comments came as the country registered 18 more Covid-19 fatalities and 2,125 new hospital admissions on Tuesday morning.
The Public Health Ministry said all the cases were local transmissions.
Chadchart said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will step up Covid-19 screening at its next activity, an orchestral contest which will be held in an enclosed area.
He added that the BMA will also include proactive testing at schools to reduce the risk of students passing the virus to family members.
Booster shots will also be offered within communities for high risk groups, including the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, he said.
The Post report said Chadchart did not attend the Public Health Ministry's emergency meeting on Monday, where he was expected to be asked to scale back public activities.
Chadchart claimed he was not formally requested to attend in person by the ministry and Dr Wantanee Wattana, a city deputy permanent secretary, attended in his place.
Dr Wantanee insisted that all the BMA's activities were being held in line with the country's Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration's regulations.
"We have strictly followed the ministry's guidance, and have not found any clusters arising from such activities. If it happens, we will suspend or cancel the activities immediately," she said.
Meanwhile, Phuket health authorities said that the number of new Covid-19 cases daily in the southern island province remained at an average of 20 to 25.
Its health office chief Kusak Kukiatikul said there were 20 new cases and two deaths on Sunday.
He said 64 patients were still under treatment and that the new cases were due to the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
Dr Kusak said that between July 11-17, there were seven deaths from Covid-19, most of them over 70 years of age and suffering from chronic illnesses.
In Phuket, 98 per cent of its population have received a first Covid vaccination, 90 per cent a second dose and 68 per cent, a booster dose.
Since the pandemic started in early 2020, there have been 4,562,968 Covid-19 cases in Thailand, including more than 2.34 million this year, with 4,509,596 complete recoveries to date.
The accumulated death toll stood at 31,031 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 9,333 so far this year.