HCMC neighbor Long An orders people to shelter in place

With a population of more than two million, the province that borders Ho Chi Minh City to the south will apply more stringent coronavirus restrictions from Monday, requiring people to "stay where they are," isolating homes from homes, streets from streets, and wards from wards.

The new rule is expected to last for one week to ensure social distancing measures are implemented more "strictly, substantively and effectively," a province government's decision stated.

Except for frontline forces, technical infrastructure staffers, delivery people, forces providing food and essential goods and farmers harvesting agricultural products, no one is allowed to leave their houses.

All agencies, units, and businesses in the province must switch to working from home and limit traveling by private vehicles as much as possible.

Related agencies have to make plans to ensure social security, provide food and essential products adequately and timely while the Health Department ensures on-site medical care.

Binh Duong Province, which also borders HCMC and is now the second-worst hit locality after the metropolis, has implemented the same order for people in 11 wards of Thuan An and Tan Uyen towns starting 3 p.m. Sunday.

To ensure no one in those 11 wards leave their home in 15 days, the province has announced it would provide food and rice to the 720,000 people in those areas, considered "very high risk" due to "a high density of Covid-19 cases in the community."

A task force guards an area under lockdown in Thu Dau Mot Town of Binh Duong Province, June 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyet Trieu

Starting Monday, the province applied the same rule for four wards of Di An, An Binh, Dong Hoa, Tan Dong Hiep of Di An Town for seven days, during which authorities would provide food to people under lockdown.

For the ongoing wave that hit Vietnam in late April, Long An has recorded 17,805 community cases and 218 have died while Binh Duong reported 70,242 cases and 570 deaths.

HCMC is still the epicenter with nearly 176,000 community infections and 6,538 fatalities. The city has also demanded people to shelter in place for 15 days starting Monday.