HCMC businesses say unable to meet stay-at-work requirement at short notice

On July 13, city authorities said enterprises that could provide accommodation and food for employees on their premises or transport workers between production facilities and accommodation at other places like dormitories and hotels could operate normally and all others would have to close down from July 15.

Factories are built for production, and so it is impossible to add facilities for bathing, eating and resting within 24 hours, Le Hai Lieu, chairwoman of Duc Thanh Wood Processing Joint Stock Company, told VnExpress.

Her company planned to rent accommodation for its 400, but found ensuring three meals a day for them amid HCMC’s 15-day social distancing order was difficult, she said.

"Eventually, this morning, we decided to close down the factory."

Garment maker Dony also decided to shut down because it could not provide food for hundreds of workers, director Pham Quang Anh said, explaining it could not immediately order such meals from outside suppliers.

Cooking at the factory meant potential fires and explosions, he added.

Nguyen Gia Huy Chuong, vice chairman of the HCMC Young Businesspeople Association, said some members employ only a few dozen workers, and their plants are too small to add makeshift accommodation.

They could not afford to rent accommodation either or hire buses to transport them, he added.