Hoi An imposes social distancing

It will entail staying at home except for emergencies, buying food or medicines, and going to production facilities or businesses involving trade in essential goods and services.

People should wear masks when they leave home, wash their hands often with soap or disinfectant, not gather in groups of more than two in public except in offices, schools and hospitals, and maintain a distance of at least two meters from each other.

A 70-year-old man living in Hoi An’s Minh An Ward tested positive while receiving treatment for other conditions at Da Nang Hospital in the neighboring city. 11 people came into direct contact with him.

Hoi An has also set up checkpoints to block arrivals from Da Nang, now a Covid-19 hotspot.

The popular tourist town has called halt to all tourism activities since Tuesday.

On Wednesday the Ministry of Health asked people who had been to 28 locations, including three in Hoi An: Phuong banh mi stall at 2B Phan Chu Trinh Street on July 14 afternoon; Hoi An Silk Marina Resort & Spa at 74 August 18 Street and the town's walking zone on July 24 and 25, to report themselves to the authorities.

Quang Nam authorities said 616 people who went to three hospitals in Da Nang, locked down after its patients and staff were infected, and 169 others who went to a Da Nang wedding center associated with at least two patients, have been quarantined and samples have been taken for testing.

The province closed entertainment outlets including bars, karaoke and massage parlors, cinemas and disco bars on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning nine more people were diagnosed with Covid-19, eight in Da Nang and one in Hanoi, taking the total number of local infections since Saturday to 43.