HCMC – The government of HCMC has suggested that street food stores and coffee shops stop offering in-person services, while hair salons and beauty centers shut down in an attempt to cushion the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chairman of the city government Nguyen Thanh Phong made this suggestion at a meeting related to Covid-19 this afternoon, May 27. The meeting was called right after the city detected 25 suspected cases of Covid-19 linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission, a religious sect in the city’s Go Vap District.
Hotel restaurants might just serve hotel guests, not walk-in ones. Religious rites and gatherings of more than 10 people would also be stopped.
The move, if applicable, would be more drastic than the previous one made five days ago. Earlier, the city had ordered small food stores employing less than 10 employees to suspend operations. Meanwhile, food stores with over 10 employees and hotel restaurants were permitted to stay open as long as they served no more than 20 people at the same time. Also, festivals, meetings and religious gatherings with fewer than 30 people could take place.
Regarding a social distancing plan, the city leader asked the HCMC Department of Health to work on the scale and time to impose social distancing in high-risk areas such as the houses and workplaces of Covid-19 positive cases.
The head of the municipal government added that this coronavirus wave could last longer than the previous ones. Further, more positive cases could be detected in the community as the source of transmission of the clusters linked to an eatery in Alley 257 on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 3 and the religious sect remains unknown.
The chairman also ordered social distancing measures at shopping malls, night markets, wet markets and wholesale markets. State agencies were told to facilitate the deployment of anti-Covid-19 measures in high-risk areas such as wet markets, apartment buildings, boarding houses, coach stations and hospitals.
