Hoi An makes lockdown townwide as infections rise

People have 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.

The town of Quang Nam Province recorded 26 infections in the past five days and many people with Covid traveled to various places, making contact tracing extremely hard.

Local authorities fear the pandemic is set to become "complicated and unpredictable."

On Monday Tan An and Thanh Ha wards, where new Covid clusters have been found, were locked down under Directive 16 while less stringent measures applied in the rest of the town, which is home to 100,000 people.

The latest decision means all tourism activities in the tourist hotspot will be suspended.

After an earlier lockdown Hoi An only reopened its tourist attractions in May.

In the ongoing fourth wave of the coronavirus that began in April, Quang Nam has had 72 infections.

There have been 129,571 cases in 62 of the country’s 63 cities and provinces.