The HCMC authorities have suspended public and inter-provincial buses, taxis, and app-based cars from June 20 to curb the novel coronavirus spread, which has infected over 1,500 people citywide.
In an urgent directive released on June 19 night, the municipal People’s Committee said this is part of the city's tougher pandemic prevention measures to cope with rising Covid-19 infections.
Ben Thanh market in HCMC is deserted because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Huy Chuong |
The decision is not applied to vehicles designated by local transport authorities to carry patients to hospitals in emergency cases. Neither does it affect app-based motorbike taxi services, for both passenger transport and goods delivery, but drivers must comply with Covid-19 prevention regulations, including mask donning and health declaration.
This is the second time that mass transit networks in HCMC have come to a halt since the Covid-19 pandemic hit Vietnam in early 2020.
The municipal authorities have also suspended flea markets citywide, shortened the safety distance between people to 1.5 meters from two meters, and limit public gatherings from five to three people.
Previously, the municipal administration has blockaded six quarters in the two districts of Binh Tan and Hoc Mon, as these locations have become new virus hotbeds.
The municipal authorities also focus on the acceleration of Covid-19 vaccination to reach herd immunity as soon as possible, following the kick-off of a mass inoculation drive with 836,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses on June 19.
According to the Ministry of Health, the new patients have propelled the HCMC’s case count to second place nationwide in the ongoing wave, surpassing Bac Ninh Province. Forty-one new cases in the southern metropolis are detected in quarantined areas, while the rest are being contact traced.
As of June 20, the Ministry of Health has confirmed 130 domestic infections in the whole country, of which 80 cases were detected in HCMC that has recorded 1,481 carriers since late April.
At the time of writing, Vietnam has documented 9,850 community cases in the fourth Covid-19 outbreak.
