Officials in Hanoi’s Tay Ho District have forced the shutdown of a coffee shop operating on the Red River bank and fined its owner VND17.5 million (US$760) for allowing many customers to gather despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The closure, ordered by Tay Ho chairman Nguyen Dinh Khuyen on Monday, will remain in place until further notice.

The café owner was fined VND17.5 million, according to Khuyen.

The punishment came after Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported on the same day on a crowd of visitors enjoying their Sunday at the aforementioned coffee shop without wearing face masks and ensuring the public distance for COVID-19 prevention and other safety measures as required by the Ministry of Health.

Both the service operator and visitors showed negligence in pandemic prevention and control at a time when Hanoi has recorded a high number of infections in recent days and had to lock down several apartment buildings, where locally-transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered.

The municipal authorities have banned gatherings of over ten people outside of offices, schools, and hospitals from May 11.

The management board of the Red River bank will be the first to take responsibility for letting the crowded gatherings happen on Sunday, before Tay Ho officials meet to discuss and review the violation, according to chairman Khuyen.

Hanoi has confirmed 308 community-based COVID-19 cases between April 27, when the first local infection in the current wave was detected, and Tuesday morning, according to the Ministry of Health.

Vietnam has registered 5,461 coronavirus patients, including 3,975 domestic cases, since the virus first emerged in the country on January 23, 2020, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Recoveries have reached 2,794 whereas 44 patients have died, most having suffered critical pre-existing health problems.

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