Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City extends COVID-19 lockdown until Sept 15

BANGKOK: Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam will extend its strict COVID-19 restrictions until Sept 15, the government portal said Sunday citing the address of the city administration head.

According to Sputnik, the lockdown was introduced on July 9, which led to the fall in daily cases by 18 per cent. The spread of COVID-19 slowed down by half in the most affected districts, according to Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

The city administration said it wanted to maintain the positive effect and reach a 20 per cent-reduction in deaths.

The Vietnamese people are not allowed to leave their homes, unless for emergencies, and not allowed to gather in groups in compliance with the restrictions. The entertainment and public catering sectors operations have also been halted, and public transport was suspended.

Over 144,000 COVID-19 cases were logged in Ho Chi Minh City since the pandemic began, as of Saturday, which made up 54 per cent of all infections in Vietnam. The majority of all the COVID-19 lethal cases in the country (80 per cent) was also registered in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the government portal.

-- BERNAMA