HCMC imposes another 15-day social distancing

Municipal Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said Wednesday evening that the decision has been taken towards ensuring the health and lives of local residents.

The campaign, imposed under Directive 16 which comprises the most stringent social distancing regulations, requires residents to stay at home and only go out for basic necessities such as buying food or medicines or to work at factories or businesses that are allowed to open.

People must keep a distance of at least two meters. No more than two people can gather at public places apart from workplaces, schools or hospitals.

The majority of public transportation will be shut down and there will be no travel to other localities.

This is the second time that the city is imposing the citywide campaign under such strict measures. The first was a 22-day period in early April last year along with 11 other localities.

Since May 31, social distancing measures have been adopted but most parts of the city followed more relaxed measures under Directive 15, which allows gatherings of less than 20 people in one place and less than 10 outside workplaces, schools and hospitals.

HCMC is now the Covid-19 epicenter of Vietnam with over 8,000 local cases in the latest wave which began April 27. There are 11 major infection clusters in the city.

Hundreds of new cases have been confirmed each day in recent days, with many detected in random testing at hospitals.