HCMC – Flights repatriating Vietnamese citizens from Covid-19-hit countries are not allowed to land in HCMC for one week from now to help curb the spread of Covid-19 in the city, announced the Ministry of Transport.
The city reported a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases today, May 27, after 25 people linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission, a religious sect in HCMC’s Go Vap District, were diagnosed with Covid-19.
By 7 a.m. this morning, 10 others had also caught the virus, including a chef of Sheraton Hotel in District 1 and five members of a family in Go Vap District.
Due to the emergency situation, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control, held an online meeting with leaders of the city this morning.
Addressing the meeting, HCMC vice chairman Duong Anh Duc said the local authorities have collected samples from over 400 people that came into contact with these cases for Covid-19 tests.
The city has also put 10 areas, six in Hoc Mon and one each in districts 12, Tan Phu, Go Vap and Phu Nhuan, under lockdown. Duc said the city is considering imposing social distancing in high-risk areas.
Street food stores and coffee shops have been asked to stop offering dine-in services, while hair salons and beauty parlors were told to shut down.
In related news, a leader of Bac Giang Province, the country’s current biggest Covid-19 hotspot, said the number of Covid-19 cases in the province would continue to rise in the days to come as the local authorities are performing Covid-19 tests on all workers.
Up to now, the province has collected samples from over 649,000 people for Covid-19 tests and imposed social distancing in 31 communes and wards.
The province’s second field hospital with 620 beds, which is located at the provincial sports center, will be put into operation tomorrow, May 28.
A Bac Giang leader asked the Government to provide the province with 200,000 more quick test kits to accelerate Covid-19 testing.
