Emart Supermarket in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City has been suspended from operation as the facility failed to meet requirements on COVID-19 prevention and control.

The municipal Department of Industry and Trade conducted an inspection at Emart Supermarket on Sunday afternoon.

Following the examination, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngoc, the department’s deputy director, assessed that the venue did not meet pandemic prevention and control criteria promulgated by the city’s administration.

Ngoc decided to suspend the supermarket and will only allow its resumption when all mandatory requirements are met.

An Emart representative told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that multiple measures had been taken to ensure safety, but customers came in droves after prolonged movement restrictions were eased early this month.

“We had to limit the number of shoppers inside the supermarket at a time, thus many people had to wait for their turn, which resulted in large crowds at the two entrances,” the representative elaborated.

“Our security guards had tried their best to remind customers to socially distance."

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City decided to ease coronavirus social distancing restrictions from October 1 to facilitate the recovery of socio-economic operations after months of lockdown, as the majority of the city’s adult population had been vaccinated with at least one dose.

Supermarkets are now permitted to welcome shoppers, but they have to make sure pandemic prevention and control regulations are complied with.

Many venues have applied various methods to cap the number of customers and make sure everyone wears face masks and keeps a safe distance from each other.

Several supermarkets have reported that the fresh food sections are usually more crowded than other areas.

According to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, about 106 supermarkets and more than 3,100 convenience stores in the city have reopened to shoppers.

Ho Chi Minh City is the hardest-hit locality in the country since the beginning of the fourth wave, with more than 397,500 local infections and 15,148 fatalities..

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