The move aims to prevent the possible spread of the virus in large crowds, Dinh Hong Phong, deputy head of Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem district government at the city’s Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control meeting on August 21.
Hoan Kiem District currently has 3 walking spaces, namely the Hoan Kiem Lake area, Hang Dao-Dong Xuan night market and the Old Quarter. The walking space of Hoan Kiem Lake alone attracts between 3,000 - 5,000 people during daytime, and between 15,000 to 20,000 people in the evening. This is the place where a lot of cultural, artistic and sport activities take place, especially on weekends.
This is the second time Hanoi has closed pedestrian streets amid COVID-19 fears. The pedestrian streets stopped working in February 2 as the first coronavirus wave broke out in the country.
Statistics show Hanoi has registered 11 locally acquired coronavirus cases since the second wave broke out in Da Nang in late July. The city has tested 72,000 people returning from Da Nang, the epicenter of the outbreak, with nearly 50,000 samples coming back negative.
