Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have decided to shut down a company with about 70,000 employees for two days as it fails to meet certain requirements for prevention of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The suspension of PouYuen Vietnam, a sports shoe manufacturing company, will begin at 00:00 on April 14 and conclude at the end of April 15, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said during a teleconference on COVID-19 prevention and control with the central government on Monday afternoon.

The shutdown is in line with current regulations and based on a proposal by the city’s Department of Health, Phong elaborated.

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.

Local authorities have inspected the firm to check if it had been taking adequate measures to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak.

According to Phong, the company has been measuring the body temperature of all workers and requiring all employees to wear face masks at work.

It has also installed handwashing sinks and partitions at its cafeteria.

However, the number of workers during each shift has yet to be lowered, while the distancing between employees is not up to the requirement.

The risk of COVID-19 infection in Ho Chi Minh City is still high, making the suspension of PouYuen Vietnam necessary to ensure the safety of the community, the chairman said.

The Ho Chi Minh City administration previously submitted a document regarding the suspension to the prime minister on Sunday for further directions.

In the document, the administration proposed that the shutdown last from April 13-15.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 1.86 million people and killed more than 114,900 globally as of Monday evening, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has confirmed 265 COVID-19 cases in total, with 145 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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