All entertainment and amusement centers, restaurants, beer clubs, bars, catering businesses, beauty parlors, and hair salons in Ho Chi Minh City will be closed through the end of March, according to an urgent directive by the municipal administration.

The directive, signed by vice-chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Le Thanh Liem, was issued in accordance with the conclusion from a meeting of the city’s steering committee for the prevention of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Monday and at the request of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports on Tuesday.

Accordingly, all entertainment and amusement centers, restaurants, beer clubs, bars, catering businesses with a capacity of 30 customers and more, gyms, billiard clubs, beauty and hair salons, and barbershops have to be closed from 6:00 pm on Tuesday through March 31.

The purpose of the shutdown is to ensure “absolute safety” in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in the city, the document reads.

Competent departments, agencies, and the city's 24 districts’ administrations are responsible for the enforcement of the directive.

Earlier, authorities in Ho Chi Minh City had decided to close all cinemas, clubs and bars, massage parlors, karaoke lounges, and online game centers until the end of March to prevent the COVID-19 spread. The closedown began at 6:00 pm on March 15.

In a similar move, Hanoi chairman Nguyen Duc Chung also asked bars, karaoke lounges, and several tourist sites in the Vietnamese capital to close until the end of this month.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 383,300 people and killed more than 16,500 globally, according to Ministry of Health statistics. Over 100,300 cases have recovered.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 123 cases of new coronavirus infections, with 17 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by Friday last week.

No death related to the disease has been recorded in the country.

Three of the 30 COVID-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City have walked out of the hospital free of the virus.

Thirty-nine people in Hanoi have tested positive for the virus. 

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