The People’s Committee of District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City has proposed piloting the reopening of dine-in service this weekend as local authorities are stepping up activities to bolster economic recovery.

In the proposition put forward to the municipal People’s Committee, leaders of District 7, which was the first to declare its successful control over the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, reported that 434 enterprises and household businesses have resumed their operations over the past 15 days.

All the active businesses show high compliance with the pandemic prevention requirements, according to the authorities.

As a further step to pave the way for the comeback of more activities in the near future, the district administration suggested allowing restaurants and beverage joints to provide sit-down service on a trial basis.

Restaurants shall serve no more than 30 percent of their capacity and 20 people at the same time, while strictly following other safety criteria as stipulated by the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

All employees and dine-in customers must either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for at least 14 days or have recovered from the disease within the past six months.

The business venues must not be narrower than 100 square meters, with priority given to outdoor, well-ventilated facilities not relying on air conditioning.

The People’s Committee of District 7 will appraise the operating conditions, issue quick response codes, and install surveillance cameras connected to its Command Center for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and Economic Recovery to monitor employees and customers entering and leaving the qualified facilities every day.

The trial is expected to begin on Sunday.

As per a road map announced previously, District 7’s administration officially resumed sports activities at 50 percent of their normal capacity, with the gathering at each venue limited to ten, on Wednesday.

Ho Chi Minh City has been the hardest-hit locality in Vietnam since the beginning of its fourth virus wave on April 27, with more than 403,400 local infections and over 15,300 fatalities.

Infections have slowed down over the past few weeks, partly due to over seven million of its nine-million population having been given at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.

City authorities had applied various social distancing levels in recent months before switching to Directive No. 18 from October 1 to continue preventing and controlling the pandemic while gradually reopening the economy.

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