Visiting pagodas and temples at the beginning of the year was one of the important customs for many Vietnamese, who wanted to pray for a peaceful and happy new year. But this year this habit had to change.
Facing new and complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hanoi People's Committee decided to close all street eateries, sidewalk iced tea shops, and coffee shops from February 16.
Temples, pagodas, and religious places are also closed to the public to prevent the disease from spreading in the community.
Famous monuments, temples, and pagodas such as Phu Tay Ho, Tran Quoc pagoda, Ngoc Son temple all posted notices of closure. All those places stop receiving guests and Buddhists and they also abandoned plans to organize Spring festivals.
Visiting pagodas and temples at the beginning of the year is a good tradition. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have to stop those actions, to protect themselves as well as the community./.
