HCMC Covid-19 infection rate dropping: ministry

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said Wednesday that healthcare staff have collected around 500,000 samples for Covid-19 testing this week.

Around 3.6 percent of the samples have tested positive for the virus, showing a reduction in infection rates from earlier, he said.

During the city's social distancing periods people have drastically cut down on going outside and road traffic has reduced by around 80 percent from before, he noted.

"If we keep this up, along with ramping up Covid-19 vaccination, the coronavirus situation in Ho Chi Minh City will be brought under control soon," Long said.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has said that in order to control outbreaks, social distancing measures must be strictly followed, and people must have access to medical services anytime and anywhere.

Ho Chi Minh City, epicenter of Vietnam's fourth coronavirus wave since April, has recorded 190,166 local cases.

The southern metropolis has undergone a series of social distancing orders, with the latest one expected to last until mid-September. The city has further tightened social distancing restrictions starting August 23 amid worrying coronavirus situations, asking residents to not go out even for getting food, which would be delivered to their doorstep by local authorities.