Ho Chi Minh City tightens restrictions amid COVID-19 surges

At a meeting on COVID-19 response on August 20, the local authorities proposed strict solutions to achieve the goal of putting the outbreaks under basic control by September 15, including asking local residents to stay where they are while each house, residential zone and commune must keep isolated from each other, starting from August 23.

The city will also strengthen efforts to care for COVID-19 patients, particularly those in critical condition, in order to minimise fatalities, while continuing to conduct mass testing in high-risk areas and accelerating COVID-19 vaccination.

Local authorities asked people to calm down as the city has come up with plans to ensure adequate supplies of necessities during the time of heightened COVID-19 restrictions.

As the city’s COVID-19 situation remains complex, with the increase in new infection cases, the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control has called on each residential zone, street, ward, commune, township, organisation, and factory to be a fortress in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Phan Nguyen Nhu Khue, Head of the municipal Party Committee’s Board for Information and Education, stated that COVID-19 measures must be tightened to achieve the best possible results as the government has requested the city to put the virus under control before September 15, therefore gradually bringing the city into a new normal state.

As rumours are spreading, Khue also affirmed that there is no lockdown, but the city is continuing to promote advanced measures to control the outbreaks by mid-September.

After more than 11 days implementing screening and testing to separate infections from the community, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Can Tho has decreased sharply, with 1,757 patients having recovered. (Photo: NDO/Quoc Dung)

Meanwhile, there are positive signals in the fight against COVID-19 in Can Tho. The Mekong Delta city has recorded a total of 3,555 COVID-19 cases, but 1,757 have recovered, while the number of new cases per day has dropped sharply to the lowest figure ever at 56 cases, of which only six were detected in the community through a mass screening and testing campaign on August 19.

Since the first case of the fourth wave was detected in Can Tho on July 8, the city has carried out a range of drastic solutions to prevent the spread of the disease, with 22 hospitals having been erected with a treatment capacity of 5,620 beds

After 11 days of implementing a "green campaign", the number of COVID-19 cases in Can Tho City has decreased deeply, even in isolation and blockaded areas and through community screening tests.

Currently, the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control in Can Tho is continuing to carry out the 4th phase of community testing for people throughout the city.

While promoting drastic measures, Tran Viet Truong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho City, emphasised that the whole city is striving to return to a new normal state by September 15 in order to realise the dual goals of both fighting the epidemic and boosting socio-economic development.