Binh Duong to allow only vaccinated people out on streets

They must furnish vaccination certificates showing they had received at least one shot 14 days earlier and other documents issued by their employers or management agencies, the province administration said in a statement it issued Thursday on establishing a "new normal" to gradually resume socio-economic activities.

But it will keep stringent restrictions in red zones, or very-high risk areas.

People in these zones will not be allowed to enter any other zone where the risk is estimated as lower.

They will be repeatedly tested until no infections are found for 14 days in a row.

The province ordered district and ward authorities to provide people in red zones with test kits and encourage them to perform the test themselves.

When an infection is detected, local health authorities will decide whether to have the patient hospitalized or treated at home.

District authorities can decide on their own when to resume activities to trade essential goods and reopening eateries based on the local situation.

Since Monday the province has allowed Dau Tieng, Bau Bang, Phu Giao, and Bac Tan Uyen districts to ease social distancing by switching from Directive 16 to Directive 15 or in-between rules.

Directive 15 mandates suspension of all social events, bans gatherings of 10 people or more -- 20 or more at workplaces, schools and hospitals – and a social distance of two meters in public.

Directive 16 bans people from leaving home except for buying food or medicines or working where allowed.

Binh Duong, next door to Ho Chi Minh City and home to major industrial complexes, has been the second worst hit locality after the city in the fourth wave of Covid that hit in late April.

It has recorded 146,296 cases and 1,284 fatalities, and has been under Directive 16 since July 19.

It has given the first dose of a vaccine to more than 1.5 million people and the second to another 47,500.

It plans to vaccinate all adults by September 10.