Vietnamplus

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has extended partial lockdown in the capital until the end of March, as the country awaits the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines.

Certain non-essential services in Ho Chi Minh City are to remain closed until further notice in an effort to prevent COVID-19 transmission while others have been allowed to resume.

Lockdown and social distancing measures were lifted in 14 out of 18 areas in Hanoi, Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien reported on February 22.

The northern province of Hai Duong - Vietnam's current largest COVID-19 hotspot - had basically managed to put under control five big outbreaks by February 18, said the provincial steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control.

The northern province of Hai Duong has ordered its provincial and district-level Steering Committees for COVID-19 Prevention and Control to tighten management of concentrated quarantine centres, lockdown areas and COVID-19 hospitals to prevent cross transmission.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, has agreed with the northern province of Quang Ninh on conducting large-scale COVID-19 testing in areas with outbreaks instead of conducting the test on all local residents.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam requested relevant agencies and localities to try to limit lockdown to the smallest possible scale during an online meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control with Hai Duong, Quang Ninh and Hanoi authorities on February 3.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has asked airlines to quickly refund or exchange tickets for passengers who cannot fly to their destinations in areas under lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The People’s Committee of Dong Trieu town in the northern province of Quang Ninh has decided to impose a temporary lockdown on an additional 11 wards and communes from 9:00 am on February 2 until the province issues a new direction.

Thailand on February 1 recorded 836 new coronavirus cases, 793 of them from active testing.

Cai Bau island in Van Don district in the northern province of Quang Ninh has been put under temporary lockdown as from 0:00 on February 2 in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Central Highlands province of Gia Lai has recorded five people testing positive once for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19, all of them linked with the localities that have reported confirmed cases over the past few days.

Northern Quang Ninh province has decided to put its Van Don district under social distancing and temporarily block Van Don’s Cai Rong town from 12pm on January 30 to 12pm on February 21.

The town of Dong Trieu in northern Quang Ninh province will be subject to social distancing measures over the next 25 days, according to an official dispatch from the provincial People’s Committee on January 29.

The northern province of Quang Ninh is considering placing Dong Trieu town, where a large number of residents had close contact with new COVID-19 cases in neighbouring Hai Duong province, under lockdown, an online meeting on the evening of January 28 heard.

Malaysia has announced that the entire country, with the exception of Sarawak, will come under the Movement Control Order (MCO) in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Thailand's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) announced on December 24 that there will be no national lockdown but COVID-19 control zoning is being imposed, based on the number and degree of new cases in localities.

The Thai economy may fare better than expected, helped by recovering domestic consumption and exports, according to the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO).

A labour shortage, particularly in manpower-intensive industries such as agribusiness and food processing, is likely to intensify over the long term in Thailand as the COVID-19 pandemic makes it difficult for foreign labourers to move across borders.

While Malaysia has decided to extend a partial lockdown in efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, Myanmar removed certain restrictions to prepare for the upcoming general elections.