Last Saturday and Sunday might have been the busiest weekend for supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City over the past few weeks since the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, as shoppers crowded their shelves to stock up on discounted foods.

The official count of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Vietnam has stopped at 16, with all of the patients being successfully treated and already discharged from the hospital, but many sectors, including retail, are feeling the economic impact as consumers alter their shopping patterns.

Eating and drinking out and other activities outside the home have been minimized due to the COVID-19 fear, however, last weekend was an exception.

As supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City offered attractive discounts on a variety of meat and vegetables, local shoppers took the chance to fill their baskets with these foods.

For instance, small pork ribs were down from VND280,000 (US$12.11) per kilogram to VND238,000 ($10.3) per kg at the Co.opmart supermarket chain, South Korean strawberry’s price was cut by 39 percent to VND89,000 ($3.85), and chicken from VND109,000 ($4.72) per kg to VND89,000 ($3.85) per kg at VinMart supermarkets.

At some grocery stores, people had to wait in long lines for payment, while foods flew off shelves although supermarket employees constantly refilled them.

Below are photos of people shopping at supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City last weekend:

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!