The Ho Chi Minh City administration has agreed to suspend the operation of a large-scale manufacturing company for three days to minimize the risk of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection at the facility.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong on Saturday submitted a document regarding the suspension of PouYuen Vietnam Company to the prime minister for further directions.

The administration has agreed on the temporary shutdown of PouYuen Vietnam, a sports shoe manufacturer, from April 13 to 15.

Located in Binh Tan District, the firm has approximately 70,000 employees who work in three shifts. It also prepares 800 vehicles to assist the workers in their daily commute.

If COVID-19 hits the company, disastrous consequences will ensue, possibly affecting nearby businesses as well as the factories in Ho Chi Minh City's neighbors, namely Long An, Tien Giang, Ben Tre, and Tay Ninh, according to chairman Phong.

The municipal People’s Committee has sought advice from relevant agencies and believed that the brief close-down is necessary amid the complicated development of the epidemic.

The local Department of Health had proposed the suspension of PouYuen Vietnam, as the company failed to meet some requirements in the prevention of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 1.78 million people and killed more than 108,800 globally as of Sunday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 258 COVID-19 cases in total, with 144 having recovered.

The country has yet to record a death from the disease.

Ho Chi Minh City has recorded 54 patients so far, of whom 40 have been cleared of the virus.

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