Famous tourist hotpots to extend social distancing measures to contain Covid

The entire Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province of nearly 1.2 million people, except for Con Dao Islands, would continue lockdown measures for another 10 days from next Monday until Aug. 25 under Directive 16, which requires people to stay at home and only go out to buy necessities like food or medicines or to work at factories or businesses allowed to operate.

After more than one month and a half of recording community transmissions during the current wave, the southern province, which neighbors epicenter Ho Chi Minh City, has reported 2,462 infections and 21 deaths.

Con Dao, famous for its beautiful beaches and wartime prison, will relax restrictions with Directive 15, which prohibits social events, gatherings of 20 people or more and 10 outside workplaces, schools and hospitals.

The island district of over 10,000 people has not yet recorded any infections during the ongoing outbreak though all tourism services and flights connecting to the island have been suspended.

Binh Dinh, home to famous beach town Quy Nhon, would continue social distancing for another 10 days from Sunday until Aug. 25 under the less stringent Directive 15, according to the provincial portal.

Quy Nhon, a rising star on Vietnam’s tourism map for its long, broad sandy beaches, welcomed four million visitors in 2019.

Le Quang Hung, director of the provincial health department, said "the pandemic situation in Binh Dinh remains complicated as people still gather in large crowds, causing new Covid clusters."

Binh Dinh has reported 431 cases so far.

Many popular tourism destinations like Nha Trang, Da Nang and Hoi An have been placed under lockdown to curb the spread of the Delta variant.

In the fourth wave, the country has notched up over 251,000 infections.