HCMC traditional markets come under Covid attack, shut down

Hoc Mon District wholesale market will be closed from Monday until July 4, and vendors have been told to switch to online platforms and delivery services.

As of late Sunday 19 Covid cases were found at the market, which has 350 stalls spread over 100,000 square meters.

One of the biggest wholesale markets in HCMC, it has a total of 4,000 shop owners and staff.

Binh Dien Wholesale Market in District 8, which provides 70 percent of fresh food products in HCMC, has shut down after a porter who tested positive more than 10 days ago was found to have spread the infection to 32 others.

A task force disinfects stalls inside Binh Dien wholesale market, June 27, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

Three vendors in Son Ky Market in Tan Phu District contracted the virus when they visited the Hoc Mon market on June 19.

Through contact tracing health authorities found 93 others, including their family members, other vendors and people living near the market, had contracted Covid from them.

Hoa Hung and Nguyen Tri Phuong markets in District 10 and Hoang Hoa Tham Market in Tan Binh District have also been closed.

The city earlier shut down all temporary street markets on June 19, especially those in industrial zones with a lot of workers, amid a surge in Covis-19 cases.

It has been in the grip of the worst ever outbreak with 3,280 cases as of Monday morning, the second highest in Vietnam after Bac Giang Province’s 5,600.

The latest wave began in late April.