HCMC – The competent forces including the military will be in charge of delivering food and necessities to local residents in HCMC for the next two weeks starting August 23, during which the city will tighten its social distancing measures and ban residents from leaving their homes, said a local official.
Speaking at a meeting yesterday, August 20, Phan Thi Thang, vice chairwoman of the municipal government, said that residents are required to stay where they are and not venture out starting from August 23. The local authorities and competent agencies will jointly work to ensure sufficient food supplies during the period.
The HCMC Department of Industry and Trade has been asked to coordinate with 24 districts and Thu Duc City to require grassroots authorities to make a list of convenience stores in their areas as well as survey the need for food supplies of residents, so that the competent forces can make arrangements to deliver food supplies to them.
According to a Ministry of National Defense representative, the military will ramp up efforts to monitor the implementation of the stay-at-home order in this southern city and help local households shop for food and necessities.
Addressing the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked the police, the military and health authorities to closely cooperate to ensure the safety and welfare of residents.
Earlier, at a press briefing yesterday morning, the city’s anti-Covid authority said that many stringent measures had been applied during social distancing in the city but new infections have been on the rise. The number of new cases detected outside quarantine centers and areas on lockdown has also soared sharply in recent days.
Therefore, the country’s business hub decided to tighten restrictions to slow down the spread of the virus.
Nguyen Van Nen, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, noted that the implementation of social distancing measures must leave a minimum impact on local residents, especially on social security work.
The authorities and competent forces have to ensure food necessities and healthcare services are provided to residents, especially the underprivileged, Nen added.
Further, the city will focus on taking care of Covid cases and treating severely-ill cases to reduce deaths.
As of yesterday, HCMC had reported nearly 168,000 Covid infections and nearly 6,000 Covid deaths.
