Close bars countrywide to contain Covid-19 threat: health ministry

Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen on Sunday warned local authorities about the rising number of new Covid-19 community transmission cases as well as infection threats in many localities, with tourists flocking to popular destinations amid the four-day national holiday (April 30-May 3).

The ministry recommended localities suspend crowded events like festivals, pedestrian streets, and night markets.

Those that do run such events must ensure people strictly follow Covid-19 preventative measures, especially wearing masks in public. Those venturing out without masks should be punished, the ministry stated.

A medic gathers information from a man who came in close contact with a person later confirmed as a Covid-19 patient in Hanoi's Dong Anh District, April 30, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Many provinces and cities across the country like Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Ha Nam, Hanoi in the north, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south have already closed non-essential services like bars, discotheques, internet stores, and karaoke parlors.

After over a month without new community transmissions, 16 new cases have been confirmed by the health ministry since Thursday in four localities including ten in Ha Nam Province, three in Hanoi, two in northern Hung Yen Province, and one in HCMC, all linked to a Ha Nam man who returned from Japan and tested positive two days after completing two-week quarantine.