HCMC Party Committee mulls stricter restrictions as Covid continues to rage

Nguyen Van Nen, secretary of the city Party Committee, said Tuesday this would stop the spread of the coronavirus, which has continued to infect thousands of people despite nearly two weeks of social distancing.

"The current social distancing order could be made even more restrictive so that Covid-19 community transmission could be prevented ... since we have not been able to achieve that."

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam concurred saying the city needs to consider more restrictions in certain areas.

"We all know strict quarantining is the best method to limit infection."

The National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control urged HCMC to ramp up testing in high-risk areas.

Dam said the Ministry of Health had medical equipment for HCMC, especially for its ICUs.

Vietnam would have enough vaccines to cover 70 percent of the population by the end of this year if its orders to manufacturers are delivered in time, but is unlikely to get many doses until August, he said.

But should any vaccines arrive, HCMC would be prioritized, he assured.

Deputy health minister Nguyen Truong Son said: "The disease continues to behave unpredictably. The number of infections reached 5,000 a day for three days, but in the past three days have reduced to around 3,000. There has been no sign of improvement, the city needs to apply necessary coronavirus control measures for the next 10 days."

HCMC, the worst hit locality in the fourth wave, has accounted for 39,526 of the country's 61,889 cases.

It has been under two weeks of strict social distancing since July 9, requiring people to stay home and only go out for necessities such as buying food or medicines or to work at factories or businesses that are allowed to open.