HCMC neighbor Long An suspends operation of all businesses

Vice chairman Pham Tan Hoa said Sunday night that the closure was prompted by infections being detected in many enterprises in the province's industrial parks as well as the worsening situation in HCMC.

The temporary closure has to be used by enterprises to make arrangements for workers to eat, rest and work on the premises to keep production going and limit contagion risks.

Once the arrangements to have workers live on the premises are completed, businesses should report it to the local authorities for inspection before getting permission to resume operations.

Long An has 62 industrial clusters and 35 industrial parks with about 230,000 workers. Every day, more than 36,000 workers in this province go to HCMC to work while more than 20,000 workers from the city and other neighboring localities go to Long An.

In the ongoing wave that emerged in late April, the province has recorded 393 infections and four deaths. More areas in the province have been placed under lockdowns or social distancing orders after 13 infection clusters linked to the outbreaks in HCMC were detected.

At a Saturday meeting with provincial authorities, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked Long An to strictly implement social distancing measures because the province was a transit point between HCMC and Mekong Delta provinces.

The PM also ordered the health ministry to prioritize supply of 400,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to inoculate workers at industrial parks across the province.

HCMC, the current epicenter of the ongoing fourth coronavirus wave, has recorded more than 13,000 infections and many businesses in its industrial parks have been forced to suspend operations.