Hanoi suspends more non-essential services in Covid-19 fight

Municipal vice chairman Chu Xuan Dung also said at a meeting Tuesday that events like birthday parties, death anniversaries, weddings and grand openings of establishments are to be limited to the maximum extent.

With the latest order, Hanoi has now suspended most of its non-essential services as it attempts to curb Covid-19 community transmissions.

It had already suspended street food vendors, cafes, bars, dance clubs, karaoke parlors, pedestrian streets and halted all festivals.

As of Tuesday, Hanoi had recorded four Covid-19 community cases in the ongoing outbreak that started April 29 after Vietnam had gone clean for more than a month.

Nationwide, 37 local transmissions have been recorded since then. Of these, 35 are linked to hotspots in the northern provinces of Vinh Phuc and Ha Nam, with sources of transmission being people who found with Covid-19 after they had completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine and tested negative two or three times. These include a group of Chinese experts who have already returned to their country.