Hanoi to shut down indoor restaurants, cafes, barbershops again

A document by the municipal People's Committee published on the government portal Monday noon stated all non-essential businesses like indoor food and beverage facilities and barbershops must shut down after midnight on Tuesday for coronavirus prevention. Physical exercises, entertainment activities and other large gatherings at parks, gardens and other public locations would be suspended too, the document added.

Takeaways are still allowed, it noted.

Mandatory coronavirus control measures would be applied on anyone who returned to Hanoi from Ho Chi Minh City and other coronavirus hotspots, including medical declarations and 14-day self-isolation. Anyone from these areas who wish to enter the capital must have papers to prove they tested negative for the coronavirus at most three days before entry.

During a previous coronavirus outbreak, the capital had requested indoor restaurants, cafes and barbershops to close starting May 25 to curb the spread of Covid-19. The order had only been lifted on June 22.

But since last week, Hanoi has recorded at least 60 new coronavirus infections from multiple clusters, ending its previous nine-day streak of no community transmission. Many of the cases returned from HCMC, now the nation's largest coronavirus hotspot with 14,435 local infections in the new wave.

Around 6,300 people have returned to Hanoi from HCMC starting June 23. Covid-19 screening among this group over two days has found 18 new infections.