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Jul 08, 2021 / 15:18

Ho Chi Minh City maintains production while imposing partial lockdown

The city is home to more than 40 industrial parks and clusters.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest metropolis, will maintain economic activities while imposing the highest restrictions in combating Covid-19 from July 9.

Testing at Nidec Sankyo, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: HCDC

In the decision released Thursday [July 8], Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed with the local government’s proposal on imposing Directive 16/CT-TTg which requires stay-at-home citywide.

But still, production activities must be ensured, according to the government’s leader who requested the southern economic hub to pursue the dual task of “coping with the pandemic and maintaining production.”

For that reason, any company that meets pandemic prevention requirements will be eligible to continue operating. They are encouraged to arrange premises for workers to eat and sleep on site.

So far, Covid-19 has attacked more than 40 companies in Ho Chi Minh City, affecting more than 20,000 workers.

As of July 8, Ho Chi Minh City has confirmed 8,385 infections, the highest among 56 affected cities and provinces nationwide.

Directive No. 16/CT-TTg, which was issued on March 31, 2020, by the Prime Minister, sets out Vietnam’s strongest measures yet for preventing and controlling Covid-19, as followed:

- Strict fifteen-day quarantine on the principle of each family isolates itself from other families, one village from other villages, one commune from other communes, one province from other provinces.

- Staying at home except for extreme necessities like emergencies; buying food, foodstuff, and medicine; working at factories and businesses that provide essential goods and services.

- Keeping an interpersonal distance of at least two meters and banning gatherings of more than two people outside the workplace, schools, hospitals, and in public places.

- Stopping all public transport activities, app-based ride-hailing services, and motorbike taxis except for emergency cases.

- Stopping all inter-provincial traffic except for transport of essential goods and business trips of workers, specialists, and managers.

- Promoting work-from-home mode.