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.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS