In an effort to support residents practicing strict social distancing to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, authorities in Hoi An City — the tourism hub of the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam — have organized a convoy of trucks handing food supplies to sequestered households in the area. 

According to Dinh Hung, head of the finance and planning bureau of Hoi An, two residential areas in the city are currently cordoned off to control the spread of novel coronavirus disease.

The city has also identified a multitude of people who have had direct contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient, referred to as F1 cases. Those people, along with people who had direct contact with them — known as F2 cases — are ordered to self-quarantine at home. 

Thinh My Residential Area of Cam An Commune, for example, has recorded 54 households of 678 individuals isolated as of August, while the An Hoi — Dong Hiep Residential Area of Minh An Commune has had 444 households with 1,978 people under self-quarantine during the past few days.

As a means to ensure the morale and compliance of the communities, Hoi An leaders have mobilized the public budget as well as community donations to distribute essential food supplies to the households in sequestered residential areas. 

The effort is scheduled to last 14 days, during which supplies will be brought to a gathering point before being disseminated to each household by volunteers on a daily basis. 

A VND40,000 (US$1.73) package of rice, vegetables, meat, and spices is rationed per person in each sequestered household, while three meals worth VND80,000 ($3.47) apiece are granted to each individual in quarantine centers per day.

The meals are delivered by Hoi An authorities in cooperation with a local catering service provider. 

According to Hung, this operation has been conducted for the last few days, which has helped to ensure trust and compliance with the social distancing mandate among affected residents.

Citywide, enhanced social distancing measures were reinstated from July 31 and will last until August 14 as a response to the re-emergence of new COVID-19 cases in the locale.

All residents in the city are asked to stay at home and only go outside when they need to buy food, supplies, medicine, and other necessities.

Vietnam has documented 672 COVID-19 patients as of Wednesday afternoon, including 308 imported cases quarantined upon arrival, the Ministry of Health said.

The country has announced 378 recoveries and eight virus-related deaths that all had serious pre-existing conditions.

Two hundred and twenty-four local infections have been associated with Da Nang since July 25, when Vietnam confirmed the first local transmission after having gone 99 days with no documented community spread.

Forty-six of these cases have been recorded in the central province of Quang Nam, which administers Hoi An City, the second-largest number after Da Nang.

The other cases include three in Quang Ngai Province, three in Dak Lak Province, two in Dong Nai Province, eight in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Hanoi, one in Ha Nam Province, and one in Thai Binh Province.

Vietnam is in control of the outbreaks in Da Nang and Quang Nam, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said.

Eleven cases are in a critical condition, the committee announced, adding that it expects more fatalities and community-based infections in the coming days.

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