Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City yesterday began a two-week lockdown in the hope of containing the nation’s worst COVID-19 outbreak.
The city of 9 million had previously been subjected to travel restrictions for one month, but infection rates were steadily rising — with more than 9,400 cases registered.
Before the outbreak began in late April, Vietnam had recorded fewer than 3,000 cases nationwide.
Photo: AFP
Vietnamese authorities are not using the term lockdown, but are calling the measures “social isolation orders.”
Ho Chi Minh City residents are barred from gathering in groups larger than pairs in public, and people are only allowed to leave home to buy food, medicine and in case of emergencies.
Police have set up checkpoints at city borders and only those with negative test results can get in.
Airlines can carry a maximum of 1,700 passengers to the capital Hanoi per day, aviation authorities said, while trains between Vietnam’s two major destinations have been suspended.
“Our busy city has become extremely quiet,” said Tran Phuong, a resident of the city. “I am anxious that these strict measures cannot help because the virus is now deep across the community.”
Vietnam had once been hailed as a model for virus containment as a result of extensive contact tracing and strict quarantine regulations. All close contacts of virus patients have been put in state-controlled quarantine facilities.
Ho Chi Minh City was the first to adjust the strict policy, allowing close contacts to home quarantine because state-run isolation centers are overrun.
Earlier, state media reported more than 80 inmates and guards had tested positive for COVID-19 at the city’s Chi Hoa jail.
Gunshots rang out from inside the prison on Tuesday, but it remains unclear what happened.
Vietnam is juggling its desire to contain the virus with its economic growth goals.
The nation has been among the best performing economies in Asia, reporting strong growth of 6.61 percent in the second quarter.
“The lockdown ... is too hard. It will severely affect people. Our business has been suspended, so no income. Our life has been quite difficult,” motorbike parts trader Nguyen Thi My Dung said.
Vietnam, which has a population of close to 100 million, has administered almost four million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Authorities want to reach herd immunity by the end of the year or early next year. Vietnam is developing its own vaccines and has ordered millions of doses from abroad.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS