HCM City calls on people to “stay where they are” as COVID-19 surges

Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities are urging its residents to “stay where they are” and each house, residential zone and commune must keep isolated with each other, starting from August 23.

In front of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Headquarters. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s authorities are urging its residents to “stay where they are” and each house, residential zone and commune must keep isolated from each other, starting from August 23.

The decision was announced by the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control during a press conference on the city’s COVID-19 situation on August 20.

The committee is heightening pandemic control measures by calling “each residential zone, street, ward, commune, township, organization, and factory must be a 'fortress' to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

The city will also redouble efforts to care for COVID-19 patients, particularly those in critical conditions, and minimise fatalities. It will continue conducting mass testing at red-coded or “very high-risk” areas and accelerate COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

The city’s COVID-19 situation remains very complex, said Phan Nguyen Nhu Khue, head of the municipal Party Committee’s Board for Information and Education, so COVID-19 measures must be tightened to achieve the highest possible results as the government has requested HCM City to keep the virus at bay before September 15.

The city has also come up with plans to ensure adequate supplies of necessities to people during the time of heightening COVID-19 rules.

HCM City, Vietnam’s current largest COVID-19 hotspot, has so far recorded over 164,000 infections./.

VNA