Bars, karaoke parlors, and discos have been allowed to reopen in Ho Chi Minh City from Friday night, while all suspended and restricted services and activities in northern Hai Phong City have been allowed to resume operations from Saturday.

Businesses and services that are allowed to resume operations must make sure strict COVID-19 prevention and control measures are applied, the Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong People’s Committees stressed in their separate events on Friday.

All residents are still required to wear face masks in public, wash their hands regularly, and keep a safe distance with one another.

Due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ho Chi Minh City’s chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong had previously required all beauty salons, karaoke shops, discos, pubs, bars, clubs, beer clubs, massage parlors, saunas, online game centers, wedding reception centers, cafés, theaters, cinemas, gyms, and other sports facilities to cease operations on February 9.

From March 1, non-essential services and businesses were gradually allowed to reopen, but discos, bars, and karaoke parlors in an enclosed space remained shuttered.

In Hai Phong, all religious activities were suspended from 8:00 pm February 15, then eateries, cafés and cinemas followed suit from 8:00 pm February 16.

From February 22, all activities of entertainment and travel, accommodation services, on-site dining establishments, discos, karaoke parlors, saunas, massage service, bars, and game centers were also put to a halt in the northern city.

Now that the pandemic has been contained in the two cities, the local authorities have lifted the aforementioned suspension and restriction.

In addition, Hai Phong has also closed checkpoints in localities adjacent to northern Hai Duong Province, the hotbed of transmission in Vietnam’s latest outbreak since January 27.

Vietnam’s COVID-19 tally stood at 2,571 as of Saturday morning, with 2,198 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong have not documented any local infections since February 11 and February 23, respectively.

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