Ride-hailing platform Be resumes HCMC operations

Be Group, which owns ride-hailing application Be, said it would deliver only essential goods in line with prevailing regulations. Orders for all nonessential items would be refused.

Goods would be delivered between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. so drivers could return home before 6 p.m. Ho Chi Minh City authorities have banned people in the city from going out after 6 p.m. as a move to combat Covid-19.

Earlier, Be halted all of its services in HCMC from 10 a.m. on July 27.

By Wednesday noon, delivery and on-demand shopping services operated by Be, Grab, Gojek and ShopeeFood would return to the city streets.

Be said it is drawing up a list of drivers who have been or will be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Starting July 26, HCMC only allows shippers to transport essential goods while requiring strict social distancing measures.

For over a month now, HCMC has been the epicenter of the ongoing Covid-19 wave that began in late April. It has recorded 156,186 local Covid-19 cases ever since the fourth coronavirus wave hit Vietnam in late April, with the number of deaths recorded in the thousands.

The southern city has undergone a series of Covid-19 social distancing orders for nearly three months, with the latest one having been extended until Sept. 15.