The coronavirus lockdown in Thailand's capital and more than two dozen other provinces will last for another two weeks at least, local media reported on Monday, citing a government official.

Apisamai Srirangson, a spokeswoman for the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying the rules will be reassessed in mid-August but that she expected restrictions to last through the end of the month unless there was an improvement in numbers.

Citizens of the so-called "dark red zones," which include Bangkok, are not allowed to travel to other parts of the country.

There is also a strict 9pm to 4am curfew while shopping centres, massage parlours and restaurants are closed.

Bangkok, the country's largest city, currently accounts for nearly 40 per cent of all new cases in Thailand.

Last year, Thailand was considered a model country in the fight against the pandemic but infections have been climbing since April.

Indonesia aims to start gradually reopening its economy in September, a senior minister said on Monday, as the government announced an extension of curbs on movement until next week in some parts of the archipelago.

Driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant, Indonesia has over the past month faced an exponential surge in coronavirus cases that has overwhelmed hospitals and caused COVID-19 deaths to soar to record levels.

But Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Monday the wave of infections had passed its peak, with daily confirmed cases on the decline.

Authorities have imposed restrictions on movement since July 3 and government officials announced the strictest "level 4" curbs will remain in place in some areas in Java and Bali and in other cities.

It was not immediately clear whether there would be any relaxation in the capital Jakarta.

"We must remain alert and continue to take measures to control the cases," President Joko Widodo said in a statement.

Luhut Pandjaitan, a minister overseeing containment measures, said authorities were aiming for more reopening of economic activity in September.

"The reopening of economic activities will depend on vaccination," improved testing, tracing and treatment, Luhut said.

Less than 10 per cent of the targeted population has been fully vaccinated, according to the health ministry.

Health Minister Budi said the country was set to receive 258 million vaccine doses between August and December, with the possible addition of 72 million doses, enough to meet a target of up to 70 million shots per month in August and September.

Meanwhile, state media in Iran on Monday reported more than 37,000 new coronavirus infections, a single-day record high for the country.

State TV said health workers registered 37,189 new COVID-19 cases since Sunday - surpassing the previous daily record of 34,951 infections reported on Tuesday.

Also, there were 411 deaths, bringing the country's total death toll in the pandemic to 91,407 - the highest in the Middle East.

Iranian health officials have regularly warned that hospitals in the capital Tehran and other major cities are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

Also on Monday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the government to discuss the possibility of a two-week shutdown of the country, which Health Minister Saeed Namaki requested a day earlier.

Namaki in a letter to Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, suggested the military could help enforce a lockdown.

Authorities have avoided imposing heavy-handed rules on a population badly equipped to bear them.

Iran, which has suffered the worst virus outbreak in the region, is reeling from a series of crises: tough US sanctions, global isolation, a heat wave, the worst electricity outages in recent memory and ongoing protests over water shortages in the southwest.

Fewer than 4 per cent of Iranians have been fully vaccinated.

with AP and DPA

Australian Associated Press