$43-million support package sought for Saigon Covid-hit laborers

In a proposal the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs submitted to the city’s administration Tuesday, laborers that have lost their jobs or had no income in at least 30 consecutive days starting May 1 will be put on the funding list.

As the department calculated, each of more than 42,000 employees at 1,300 companies, and production and business establishments that have been suspended due to Covid-19 will be provided VND3 million ($130).

Around 2,000 laborers that have lost their jobs but could not get access to unemployment benefits would get VND2 million each. To get the unemployment benefit, laborers must pay for social insurance and in most cases, sign a contract with their employers, who will use their monthly salary to cover social insurance premiums.

For the two above groups, any female laborers, either pregnant or with kids under six, will be given an extra VND1 million.

The department also proposed giving each of 230,000 informal laborers in the city VND1.5 million. They include street vendors, porters, and trash collectors.

More than 23,000 teachers, staff and nannies at 1,800 education facilities across the city are suggested to receive VND2 million each.

Family businesses, poor households, along with children with Covid-19 are also entitled to the support package, the proposal held.

The department suggested allowing more than 400 companies to access interest-free loans for a 12-month term to pay employee salaries.

If the proposal is passed, it will mark the second time the city has released a Covid-19 support package after the first one worth VND578 billion was rolled out early last year to help 536,000 staff.

By Wednesday noon, Ho Chi Minh City has recorded 481 Covid-19 cases as the locality with the third-highest number of local infections in the ongoing wave that broke out in Vietnam six weeks ago.

The city started two weeks of social distancing from Monday last week while authorities stated earlier this week they would consider ending or continuing these measures based on the actual situation.