HCMC on first day of Covid restriction ease

Sept. 16 is the first day Ho Chi Minh City eased some of its stringent social distancing rules that had been in place for weeks. Inter-district delivery services will be allowed between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. Businesses can again use their own delivery staff and no longer have to exclusively use shipping companies.
In the photo, delivery workers wait outside a coffee shop on Nguyen Huu Tho Street in District 7.
According to staff, the shop resumed business two days ago, after the city allowed businesses in the district, deemed a low-risk area, to make deliveries for online orders as long as employees are fully vaccinated, stay and work on-site and strictly adopt social distancing rules.

A noodle restaurant on Nguyen Thi Thap Street sees some delivery workers waiting for orders.

Hoang Tuan’s com tam restaurant on Le Van Luong Street has made deliveries for two days. According to Tuan, he used to sell more than 1,000 meals before the pandemic, but now the number is only 200.
"I had halted business for more than 90 days and still have to pay VND16 million ($670) for monthly rental. Even though the number of sold meals is not high now, I feel relieved that I can resume business," he commented.

Tuan and his two employees have been fully vaccinated, one of the conditions to resume their business in the new normal.

A mobile phone shop on Le Van Luong Street has also resumed business, with only three customers allowed to enter at once. Most of business outlets in District 7 have not reopened because they failed to meets the city’s requirements.
The city has also allowed a number of other businesses to resume, though only between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., including postal and telecommunications services, offices, informatics and schooling equipment sellers. Also given the green light are those that support agricultural production, food production, processing and trading; veterinary facilities; maintenance and repair works; transport machinery and equipment maintenance and repair services; and those that sell vehicle parts.

Many streets and alleys remain blocked by barricades. In the photo, delivery workers wait for their recipients at a mouth of an alley on Hoang Trong Mau Street.

The city has also allowed people in District 7, Cu Chi and Can Gio to go grocery shopping once a week at both supermarkets and traditional markets starting Thursday. But many markets in District 7 like Tan My, Tan Quy and Phu Thuan remain closed.

At 10:30 a.m., a corner of Nguyen Thi Thap and Nguyen Huu Tho, which used to suffer from traffic congestion before the Covid-19 outbreak, sees a lot of cars and motorbikes.

On the first day delivery workers have been allowed to travel inter-district, many checkpoints got jammed. In the photo, a checkpoint near Ben Xe Mien Dong (Eastern Region Bus Station) in Binh Thanh District is filled with motorbikes. It took people up to ten minutes to have their QR codes scanned.

Some checkpoints also require people to show their negative test results.
"Previously, I made 15 deliveries per day when they allowed us to travel in one district, now within two hours, I have made six," said delivery worker Nguyen Hoang Huynh.

Most stores remained closed on the first day HCMC eased its Covid restrictions. On Do Xuan Hop Street in Thu Duc City, all shops are shut.
HCMC will mandate its social distancing under Directive 16 until Sept. 30. Previously, the city required many services to shut down, including takeaways. On Sept.7, food and beverage sellers were allowed to reopen but only for takeaway and delivery and between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
In the latest Covid wave that hit Vietnam almost five months ago, HCMC has been hit hardest. The city of 13 million has had nearly 321,000 cases and over 12,600 deaths in it while the nation’s tally stands at 641,245 and 16,151.