Hanoi to feed poor, vulnerable amid Covid social distancing

Chairman Chu Ngoc Anh requested local authorities to support the poor and those who've lost their incomes both medically and with other aspects of life. This includes providing them food during the social distancing period.

"We absolutely must not let people exit the city during the social distancing campaign, unless otherwise approved by authorities," he stressed.

Local authorities are allowed to decide on more restrictive coronavirus control measures like locking down a neighborhood to stem infections.

Medical authorities should cooperate with city leaders to devise Covid-19 treatment plans for 20,000 patients, with results reported before Aug. 5. The city should also devise schedules for cremation of those who had succumbed to the coronavirus.

Hanoi has recorded 1,457 local Covid-19 cases so far, including those contained within locked down locations, in the fourth coronavirus wave that struck Vietnam in late April.

Multiple clusters have emerged in the capital over the past week, raising concerns of a potential new infection wave.

The city of over eight million is undergoing a two-week social distancing order starting July 24, requiring people to stay home and only go out to buy food or medicine or to engage in other activities deemed "essential" like working in factories producing necessities.